How Detox and Recovery Spa Services Benefit Mental Health

This entry was posted in Health and Wellness and tagged Spa Services on June 9, 2023 by Lyle Murphy.

Last Updated on June 10, 2023 by Carol Gillette

Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD

Mental and physical health frequently go hand in hand. When one suffers, the other is frequently soon to follow. Studies have shown that while difficult to pinpoint directly, mental and physical health are directly linked, and one greatly affects the other.¹ It’s important to take mental health seriously to promote the best physical health, and it’s critical to address physical health to improve mental health.

Stress can have a serious effect on mental health at all ages, whether from incidences of substance use, school and work, or even childhood and adult trauma. For example, studies on adolescents show that common stressors from school can increase the risk of anxiety and depression.² Similarly, adults with chronic stress, whether initiated by a traumatic event, prolonged exposure to toxins, or a series of stressful occurrences, often have several physical and mental symptoms. ³

Because people under greater stress show an increase in mental and physical health struggles, addressing stress with therapeutic treatments to create a greater sense of relaxation can also help address mental health symptoms. To understand how, it is important to understand the three steps to the stress response, called stress processes. The first step involves experiencing the stressor, the initial event or occurrence causing the stress.

Typically, this is an event above and beyond the general level of incidences the person feels they can handle. The individual then will attempt to handle stress as they see fit; these moderators can be positive (like exercise, spa and other therapies, or hobbies) or negative (substance use). The final step, outcomes, describes how the mental health of the individual is affected in both the short and long term.⁴

How Do Stress and Anxiety Affect Physical Health?

Just as with mental health, prolonged and severe stress can have negative impacts on a person’s physical health as well. Much of the severity is dependent upon the level of stressors that the person faces, but there have been plenty of anecdotal reports of a person suffering from a heart attack or other conditions due to high levels of stress.

Nervousness or short-term anxiety over an incident or event can fuel minor physical symptoms like stomach pain and heartburn. Long-term anxiety or chronic stress can cause serious nervous system issues, such as brain atrophy, memory or cognition disruption, and even structural changes within the brain.

In addition, stress on the body can reduce immune function and cause significant damage to the cardiovascular system by increasing heart rate and increasing the risk of thrombosis. Stress can also affect appetite and the general function of the GI tract by accelerating inflammation in the intestines and even contributing to Crohn’s disease. Headaches, chest pains, difficulty sleeping, and more have also been linked to stress.⁵

Do Spas Help With Anxiety?

Because stress and anxiety create such an impact on the body, therapies promoting stress relief and relaxation can work to combat those negative effects. Perhaps one of the most relaxing environments possible is a spa. True, therapeutic spa treatments offer many different avenues of stress and anxiety relief.

Spa therapy can provide multiple types of water-based treatments and bodywork that can help people combat the effects of stress and anxiety. Relaxing therapies can enable people to release negative feelings and emotions and focus inward to relieve the stressors that negatively affect both physical and mental health.

The release and dissolution of stress and anxiety make up one of two overarching benefits of spa therapy to treat mental health symptoms, the other being the holistic detoxification of toxins that can create negative mental health symptoms. Rather than medications to induce the desired calm, spa therapy can create a uniquely relaxing environment that can help to alleviate anxiety.⁶

Benefits of Spa Treatments

As you can see, a relaxing spa treatment may help keep anxiety and even depressive patterns under control. The medical community has known this for some time because spa therapy isn’t a new concept; in fact, it dates to ancient Greece. While spa practices at that time took on a much more primitive form, early physicians viewed spa treatments as a therapeutic means to address many kinds of ailments. Unfortunately, as modern medicine has veered away from holistic therapies, pharmaceutical medications have become more and more common – many of which harbor their own negative effects on mental and physical health.

There are many therapeutic benefits to spa treatments, and many of these cannot be achieved with medications alone. By eliminating toxins and boosting relaxation, spa treatments can improve the immune system, combat mental health symptoms, and even improve sleep. ⁷

Immune Booster

The immune system is an important part of the body’s function, enabling you to fight off foreign invaders like pathogens and allergens. It can take serious damage from the buildup of toxins, as well as prolonged anxiety and stress. Reducing this stress and eliminating toxins appears to help boost the function of the immune system.

Fight Depression and Anxiety

Removing toxins from the body from over-prescribed medications, substance use, and environmental factors can help to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Instilling a feeling of relaxation during spa treatments can enhance this effect.

Improve Quality of Sleep

Poor sleep patterns can both worsen and be exacerbated by many of the existing mental and physical health effects of substance use, pharmaceutical medications, and environmental toxins. When we don’t sleep well, our bodies don’t have the chance to recharge and heal from the day. With good sleep comes reduced stress, heart rate, and a greater amount of energy. Spa therapy can promote the holistic detoxification and relaxation necessary to achieve restful sleep.

Reduce Pharmaceutical Dependence

Often, medications are prescribed to combat mental and physical health issues, but these drugs can cause new issues and worsen others. By serving as a non-pharmaceutical stress moderator or coping strategy, spa therapy can provide a way to relax the mind and body without medications. Holistic detoxifying spa treatments may also help people eliminate medication toxins so they can ease away from medications, reduce the incidence of negative drug effects,

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Varieties of Treatment

Spa treatments may involve a number of different procedures, from massage and sauna therapy to more intensive methods of holistic detoxification. Spa therapies, as a component of holistic detoxification, can include ionic foot baths, nebulized glutathione treatments, therapeutic massage, sauna treatment, and colon hydrotherapy.

Ionic Foot Baths

While the concept of a foot bath can seem fairly straightforward, the therapeutic mechanism behind ionic foot baths is intriguing. To combat the buildup of toxins in the body, an ionic foot bath delivers a current of energy through the body. This current works to create ions that are positively charged. These positively charged ions are thought to counteract the effects of the negatively charged ions in the system and draw out toxin buildup.

Professional ionic foot bath treatments typically last around 30 minutes. People report that foot baths help them combat addiction- and medication-related cravings, enabling them to cease medication use and restore proper neurochemistry.

Nebulized Glutathione

Free radicals in the environment have become a serious hot-button issue lately. Free radicals can have negative effects on the brain and body, as they hasten cell death and negatively affect neurochemical balance.

Nebulized glutathione treatment appears to boost the other antioxidants in our bodies that work overtime to neutralize free radicals.⁸ While glutathione treatment is often administered intravenously, nebulized glutathione treatment is achieved with a vaporizer. The treatment is relaxing and eliminates the need to experience the pain and triggering effects of needle administration.

Therapeutic Massage

While massage is a great stress reliever, therapeutic massage does more than just provide relaxation. When performed properly, therapeutic massage can also be used as a component of a holistic detoxification program. Through a specific pattern of movement, different parts of the body can be stimulated to improve the circulation of blood and lymph so critical for the natural elimination of toxins.

Massage offers relaxation and eliminates muscle tension without pharmaceuticals, and is a more natural method of healing. As a component of a holistic treatment program for substance use disorders, medication withdrawals, or toxin overload, massage is a crucial way to address associated anxiety and stress without adding more toxins to the body.

Sauna Treatment

Saunas are not only enjoyable and relaxing; recent studies have shown that saunas have other health benefits as well. Sauna therapy appears to reduce issues such as headaches and arthritis and boost cardiovascular health.⁹

For those who have never experienced such treatment, saunas typically involve an enclosed space with high heat and steam. Much like ancient Greek spa treatments, saunas have been in place for thousands of years and use heat and humidity to cause the body to sweat at a greater rate.

This allows toxins to escape the body via their natural route. Because this method doesn’t target the internal organs, sauna therapy is a less invasive way to release built-up toxins and allow organs like the kidneys and liver a chance to recuperate from prolonged medication use, addiction, or toxic overload.

Colon Hydrotherapy

Colon hydrotherapy services involve a clearing of the traditional pathways toxins use to leave the body. Unfortunately, toxin overload may cause residual toxins to redeposit themselves within the colon before evacuation occurs. Colon hydrotherapy is a useful way to address this phenomenon.

Those who have developed a dependency on pharmaceutical medications for health treatments may experience a greater level of toxicity due to prolonged use. If those medications also affect the gut’s natural response mechanisms, toxin elimination can be further impacted. Colon hydrotherapy can be used on a weekly basis for a deeper cleansing of bodily toxins and excess buildup of waste.

Final Thoughts About Recovery Spas and Mental Health

Adding more medications to an already struggling system can increase mental health symptoms and can cause further biochemical harm. At Alternative to Meds Center, we utilize the above forms of spa therapy to tackle not only stress and anxiety but also issues with addiction, medication dependence, toxin overload, and the co-occurring mental health symptoms that can arise.

By releasing the troubles of everyday life, spa therapy allows individuals to focus on healing without the influence of unnecessary medications. Holistic approaches to healing from substance use disorders, including spa therapies, can help address the underlying causes behind these issues. Alternative to Meds is committed to a holistic approach to recovery and healing. Learn more about the medication detox and recovery spa services offered at Alternative to Meds Center and how we can help you.

1 (800) 301-3753 for Spa Services at ATMC

References

Ohrnberger, J., Fichera, E., & Sutton, M. (2017). The relationship between physical and mental health: A mediation analysis. Social science & medicine, 195, 42-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.008

Anniko, M. K., Boersma, K., & Tillfors, M. (2019). Sources of stress and worry in the development of stress-related mental health problems: A longitudinal investigation from early-to mid-adolescence. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 32(2), 155-167. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2018.1549657

Noushad, S., Ahmed, S., Ansari, B., Mustafa, U. H., Saleem, Y., & Hazrat, H. (2021). Physiological biomarkers of chronic stress: A systematic review. International journal of health sciences, 15(5), 46–59. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8434839/

Pearlin, L. I. (1999). Stress and mental health: A conceptual overview. In A. V. Horwitz & T. L. Scheid (Eds.), A handbook for the study of mental health: Social contexts, theories, and systems (pp. 161–175). Cambridge University Press. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-02431-008

Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI journal, 16, 1057–1072. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2017-480

Keegan, L. (2000). Alternative and complementary modalities for managing stress and anxiety. Critical care nurse, 20(3), 93. Retrieved May 16, 2023, from https://search.proquest.com/openview/ce5a5b71e6425a864ec9f443775f31f3/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=5299

Kokayi, K., Altman, C. H., Callely, R. W., & Harrison, A. (2006). Findings of and treatment for high levels of mercury and lead toxicity in ground zero rescue and recovery workers and lower Manhattan residents. Explore, 2(5), 400-407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2006.06.008

Mandal, P. K., Roy, R. G., & Samkaria, A. (2022). Oxidative Stress: Glutathione and Its Potential to Protect Methionine-35 of Aβ Peptide from Oxidation. ACS omega, 7(31), 27052-27061. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c02760

Laukkanen, J. A., Laukkanen, T., & Kunutsor, S. K. (2018, August). Cardiovascular and other health benefits of sauna bathing: a review of the evidence. In Mayo clinic proceedings (Vol. 93, No. 8, pp. 1111-1121). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.04.008

Lyle Murphy

Lyle Murphy is the founder of the Alternative to Meds Center, a licensed residential program that helps people overcome dependence on psychiatric medication and addiction issues using holistic and psychotherapeutic methods.

Medical Disclaimer:
Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice. The information provided on the website is intended to encourage, not replace, direct patient-health professional relationships. Always consult with your doctor before altering your medications. Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision.

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