The Best Treatment for Psychosis Not in Pill Form

Diagnosis to Success Part 7

I feel that it’s appropriate with this post to say a few things upfront. First and foremost, medication is the best treatment for psychosis. If you are not taking your medication, you’re doing it wrong. This post is about what I know as the best supplementary treatment for psychosis. What might that be, you ask? A low-carbohydrate diet.

As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, 4 Reasons Schizophrenic Men Should Be Bodybuilders, low-carbohydrate diets have multiple health benefits for psychosis that isn’t just about reducing symptoms. For all you skeptics, that post also provides links to scientific papers to back up my claims. Despite its benefits, it can be a completely useless remedy if you can’t stick to it long-term. That’s why, to me, the best treatment is a low-carb diet, not a no-carb, zero-carb, or ketogenic diet.

Low-carb, not no-carb

The reality of any diet is that it needs to be something that can be realistically adhered to for the rest of your life. I know from personal experience the futility of sticking to an activity that is heavily tied to willpower (a human trait that is fleeting at best).

I’ve gotta be completely honest here. I love carbs. Some buttered toast, a cookie, an unfiltered wheat ale. I can’t get enough of it. If I went on a zero carb diet, sure, it might be physically helping me. However, a huge part of me would die inside.

…but wait, what’s this? I hear a voice. Do you hear it, too?

“You’re just not taking your health seriously. You aren’t trying hard enough to manage your health.”

Oh look, it’s try-hard Tommy telling me I’m not good enough. You know what? Fuck you, Tommy. When it comes to mental health, having realistic expectations of yourself is just as necessary as sticking to a healthy diet. Are you really going to realistically cut out all carbohydrates from your diet? If you can, wonderful! Do it, and do it now. But for little carb-gobbling monsters like me, a heavy dose of pragmatism is needed.

Treatment for psychosis will always have pragmatism in its ingredients

Every day, we are presented with multiple forks in the road. Do I eat a salad with no croutons, or do I have that sandwich with the big, bready bun? Do I have sugar in my coffee, or just settle for cream? At the end of the day, if you’re saying “no” 80% of the time to those opportunities of having carb-heavy foods like wheat, sugar, corn, rice, and potatoes, you’re doing swimmingly. When you can say no 80% of the time, that 20% of ‘chip dinners’ and 2 pints with the boys isn’t a moment of weakness, it’s a conscious, healthy choice.