A Broader View of Anxiety, Depression, and Unhappiness
By Tiago Amorim (MFHOM; dr.h.c), nutritionist, homeopath and psychoanalyst
In modern healthcare, we are witnessing a paradox that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: people are more treated than ever before — and yet, they are not necessarily healthier.
Patients follow strict diets, take multiple supplements, undergo advanced testing, and adhere to medical protocols. Still, many continue to experience fatigue, anxiety, lack of motivation, and a persistent sense that something is fundamentally wrong. This raises an uncomfortable question: what are we missing?
The problem may not lie in the lack of treatment, but in the way we define illness itself.
Not All Illness Exists at the Same Depth
Not all illnesses exist at the same level of depth. Physical illnesses are the most visible and, understandably, the most feared. They can be painful, limiting, and in some cases life-threatening. However, when compared to other forms of human suffering, they are not necessarily the most profound.
A person with a physical condition may still retain clarity of mind, the ability to make decisions, and a sense of direction in life. Mental illnesses, on the other hand, go deeper. When severe, they can impair perception, distort reality, and limit one’s ability to function in a meaningful way.
But there is a third level — less discussed, yet arguably more decisive — which we might call biographical or existential illness.
When the Problem Is Structural to a Person’s Life
An existential illness does not necessarily present itself as a clear clinical diagnosis. It manifests when a person feels disconnected from their own life, unable to reconcile their past, lost in their own trajectory, or dissatisfied in a way that cannot be explained by external factors alone.
In these cases, the problem is not merely psychological — it is structural to the person’s life.
Take anxiety, for example. In most cases, anxiety is not a disease in itself. It is a symptom — often a symptom of fear. Treating anxiety without addressing the underlying fear is like silencing an alarm without investigating the fire. Depression affects the individual more broadly — energy, motivation, and engagement with life are compromised. But even depression can be understood as a consequence of something deeper.
Unhappiness Is More Than a Mood
Unhappiness is not simply a mood. It is better understood as a global dissatisfaction with one’s own life. Over time, this condition can manifest as depression or chronic anxiety. So we must ask: can unhappiness be treated with medication alone?
Medication has its place. It can regulate physiological imbalances and alleviate suffering. But it does not resolve existential misalignment. You can improve neurotransmitter activity, but that does not necessarily give a person meaning, direction, or reconciliation with their own life. To truly understand illness, we must understand the person.
The Importance of Understanding a Person’s Story
Where did this pattern begin? What kind of life has this individual been living? What choices have shaped their current condition? There are situations in which the illness is not located in the body, nor even primarily in the mind, but in the way a person has been living.
Another essential concept is vital force — the inherent capacity of the organism to maintain balance, adapt, and recover. States like chronic stress, depression, and prolonged unhappiness tend to drain this force. The individual loses energy, resilience, and the ability to respond to life.
Healing Requires More Than Symptom Reduction
But when higher dimensions of the person — emotional, existential, and even spiritual — are brought into order, there is a cascading effect. The body begins to follow. A truly integrative approach does not reject medical interventions. It includes them — but places them within a broader framework. No meaningful treatment of a human being can occur without listening, understanding, and addressing the person as a whole.
Health as Order, Coherence, and Freedom
Health is not merely the absence of symptoms. It is order, coherence, and freedom within the individual. If a treatment does not consider who you are, where you came from, and how you are living — it may relieve symptoms, but it will not fully restore you.
Because in the end, we are not treating bodies or minds in isolation.
We are treating lives.
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Dr. Tiago Amorim’s Biography:
Nutritionist, homeopath, psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst, Tiago Amorim is a member of the Faculty of Homeopathy and the Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis. He is also a member of the Brazilian Council of Psychoanalysis.
He holds a Master’s degree in Anthropology from ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal, and an honorary doctorate in Alternative Medicine from Dunster Business School, Switzerland. He is the author of five books and the creator of the THEN Method, an integrative therapeutic approach focused on the relationship between physical, emotional, existential, and biographical dimensions of health.
Married and a father, he is also the managing partner of the Tiago Amorim Clinic.