Why Root-Cause Medicine Changes Everything
Functional psychiatry asks not what symptoms you have, but why you have them. As a board-certified psychiatrist practicing in Miami, FL, I've spent years investigating the biological root causes of psychiatric symptoms that conventional treatment repeatedly fails to address.
The Biological Foundations of Mental Health
The brain is profoundly influenced by the health of every other system in the body. When those systems break down, the brain breaks down with them.
Hormones and the Brain
Testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and thyroid hormones directly regulate the neurotransmitter systems governing mood, motivation, memory, and anxiety. When these hormones are deficient, the result is depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline that looks exactly like primary psychiatric disorders — but responds poorly to psychiatric medication alone.
The Gut-Brain Axis
Approximately 95% of the body's serotonin is produced in the gut. Gut dysbiosis and intestinal permeability directly impair serotonin production, increase neuroinflammation, and activate the stress response.
Inflammation and Neuroinflammation
Chronic low-grade inflammation drives depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline through inflammatory cytokines that disrupt neurotransmitter synthesis and impair hippocampal neurogenesis.
What a Functional Psychiatry Evaluation Looks Like
A 90-minute evaluation at PadroMD covers your full medical and psychiatric history, lifestyle, sleep, stress physiology, and nutrition. Comprehensive labs evaluate thyroid (full panel with antibodies), sex hormones, adrenal function (DUTCH), nutritional markers, inflammatory markers, and metabolic health.
The results form the foundation of a personalized protocol that may include hormone optimization, targeted nutrition, gut healing, peptide therapy, NAD+ support, and psychiatric care when clinically indicated.
Who Benefits Most?
Functional psychiatry is particularly transformative for treatment-resistant depression, anxiety unresponsive to conventional treatment, burnout, perimenopausal mood changes, and adults with ADHD where biological factors are contributing.
Dr. Mariela Padro MD practices functional and integrative psychiatry at PadroMD in Miami, FL, serving Coral Gables, Brickell, Miami Beach, and South Florida.
