The increase in magnesium concentration can reduce anxiety, hallucinations and agitation whereas hypomagnesemia could exacerbate anxiety and hallucinations. Ang et al., (1993) considered that hypomagnesemia is one of the causes of antipsychotic treatment resistance.
In addition, patients with schizophrenia have lower erythrocyte magnesium levels than controls. Magnesium plays a major role in calming the nervous system due to it's ability to block brain N-methyl D-aspartate receptors (NMDA), thereby inhibiting excitatory neurotransmission.
Based on current data, magnesium taurate and glycinate have the most research supporting their effects on anxiety and other mental health disorders. Magnesium malate and threonine have also demonstrated therapeutic effects and may be useful in many psychiatric cases.
Mental Disorders – Anxiety, Bipolar, Mania
Very early research is starting to show that oral magnesium may be useful as supplements to conventional treatments for anxiety, bipolar disorder, and mania. Daily magnesium doses of 300 mg have been used to treat mild to moderate anxiety disorders.
It has been observed that treatment with antipsychotic could be accompanied by a decrease in the concentration of serum magnesium. Low serum concentrations of magnesium are potentially a risk factor of cardiac sudden death (Peacock, 2010).
Magnesium glycinate is often used for its calming effects to treat anxiety, depression, and insomnia.
Dietary deficiencies of magnesium, coupled with excess calcium and stress may cause many cases of other related symptoms including agitation, anxiety, irritability, confusion, asthenia, sleeplessness, headache, delirium, hallucinations and hyperexcitability, with each of these having been previously documented.
Lithium and quetiapine top the lists for all three phases of the illness: mania, depression, and the maintenance phase. Lurasidone and lamotrigine are either untested (lurasidone) or ineffective (lamotrigine) in mania, but they are essential tools for bipolar depression.
It turns out one study shows the supplement can be as effective as SSRIs in treating mild to moderate depression. The FDA hasn't yet rated magnesium as an effective treatment for depression; they need to see more studies before they'll take that step.
Magnesium Puts The Breaks on the Intrusive Thoughts
In terms of neurotransmitters and mental health, magnesium inhibits the release of excitatory neurotransmitters and can increase feel good brain chemicals such as serotonin.
From a neurological standpoint, magnesium plays an essential role in nerve transmission and neuromuscular conduction. It also functions in a protective role against excessive excitation that can lead to neuronal cell death (excitotoxicity), and has been implicated in multiple neurological disorders.
B vitamins.
A large review of over 800 patients found that people who took high-dose B-vitamins like B6, B8, and B12 in addition to their medications significantly reduced symptoms of schizophrenia, compared with those who took medicines alone.
The increase in magnesium concentration can reduce anxiety, hallucinations and agitation whereas hypomagnesemia could exacerbate anxiety and hallucinations.
Vitamin B12 deficiency may present with a psychosis which is curable if treated promptly. Although this fact is not new and is described in various textbooks,9,10 it seems that it is often forgotten, which results in prolonged suffering from irreversible brain damage.
“Magnesium is essential for brain function and acts on NMDA receptors in the brain which help brain development, learning and memory. It also helps with fatigue, tension, anxiety, mood, sleep and healthy functioning of the entire nervous system”.
This is responsible for a relatively frequent occurrence of subclinical or even overt forms of Mg deficiency. These can present with symptoms common in psychiatry: depression, anxiety, agitation, irritability, restlessness, hallucinations, weakness and psychosomatic complaints [2, 3].
Mental health conditions are another possible effect of magnesium deficiency. One example is apathy, which is characterized by mental numbness or lack of emotion. Worsened deficiency may even lead to delirium and coma ( 3 ).
Possible causes of hypomania or mania include: high levels of stress. changes in sleep patterns or lack of sleep. using recreational drugs or alcohol. seasonal changes – for example, some people are more likely to experience hypomania and mania in spring.
Magnesium begins to take effect after one week of consistent supplementation.
Other research from 2017, appearing in the journal PLoS One , found that a 6-week course of magnesium chloride led to a significant reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms.
Medical research has linked magnesium to reduced anxiety. Magnesium helps you to relax by stimulating the production of melatonin and serotonin which boost your mood and help you sleep. Magnesium also reduces the production of cytokines and cortisol, which lead to increased inflammation and stress.