Book Review: Holistic Solutions for Anxiety and Depression in Therapy by Peter Bongiorno (Continued)

Book Review by Megan Riddle of Peter Bongiorno's book "Holistic Solutions for Anxiety and Depression in Therapy"

Bongiorno also covers various mind-body therapies such as yoga, acupuncture, and massage. He includes guidelines for how to integrate CAM with traditional treatments to get the most out of both. To help the clinician pull this all together, he ends with a discussion on designing individualized treatment plans that draw on various aspects of the CAM toolkit.

The end of the book includes a series of useful appendices, including recommended blood tests for an initial workup and further resources. It also includes a quick reference guide to supplements for anxiety and depression that include typical doses, side effects and toxicities, along with a similar guide to homeopathic treatments.

This book is extensively researched. As someone who likes to see the data behind the claims, I appreciated Bongiorno’s decision to include the results from primary research in his discussion of the risks and benefits of various treatment options.

In terms of research, CAM therapies can be at a disadvantage, as there are not the same financial incentives to exploring the effectiveness of acupuncture as there are in discovering the next blockbuster pill. That said, there is increasing interest in this field and Bongiorno does an excellent job integrating studies into the text without sacrificing overall readability.

My one (small) complaint is that while the book does give credit to the role of what Bongiorno terms “conventional biomedicine,” there is a slight bias in how he describes some of the risks behind these treatments. For instance, with one treatment, he cites a 45 percent increased risk of stroke in postmenopausal women. While this is what the study found, in absolute numbers, the risk goes from 0.29 percent to 0.41 percent per year. Significant? Sure, and something to be considered, but maybe not as concerning as that 45% increase would suggest.

Still, overall, this is a well-written book that serves as an excellent reference for those trying to better understand the role of CAM therapy and how to utilize these treatments, be it alone or integrated with more traditional options.

Amazon: Holistic Solutions for Anxiety & Depression in Therapy: Combining Natural Remedies with Conventional Care
W. W. Norton & Company, March 2015
Hardcover, 416 pages
$37.50