The Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 – Interview with Psychiatrist Dr. Amelia Villagomez

I’m so thrilled to share that we have surpassed the ONE MILLION download mark on the Sparking Wholeness podcast! So what better way to celebrate than with an episode featuring an integrative psychiatrist who discusses the mental health impact of COVID-19!?

Dr. Amelia Villagomez is an integrative psychiatrist at Progressive Psychiatry in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended medical school at Texas A&M, completed her training in General Psychiatry at Yale, and did a fellowship in Child/Adolescent Psychiatry at Harvard. To further her education in holistic healing methods, she completed a fellowship for integrative medicine at The Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and is certified in mind-body techniques. In this interview, Dr. Villagomez addresses the top mental health concerns during this pandemic and its aftermath.

Download the episode here or subscribe on iTunes here.

Topics addressed:

How children and adolescents may actually be seeing a decrease in mental health concerns during this time, which poses the question: is an international pandemic less stressful than going to school?
How the pandemic is forcing us to rethink current paradigms.
Managing uncertainties and expectations.
The increase in insomnia, its causes, and what to do about it.
How the abundance of information may be negatively impacting us, stages of disaster, and potential trauma resulting with the current season.
The importance of mindfulness and staying in the current moment with self compassion and self awareness.
Nutritional support for mental health and why your brain needs 7-9 different fruits and veggies a day.
Why the gut-brain connection is something we should all be talking about.
Why the concept of PLAY is so important for mental wellness and holistic health.

Resources discussed during podcast:

Integrative Strategies (including nutraceuticals) published by the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550830720301130?via%3Dihub

CMBM online groups: