Hope For The Mentally Ill?

[Madeline]

An interesting article about possible infectious disease causes of schizophrenia and perhaps autism and other mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia, cat parasite link under study - chicagotribune.com

Personally, I have never been of the opinion that some illnesses are "just mental". Seems to me, all physical illnesses affect mood and behavior, and I think it is likely all mood and behavior type illnesses have some physical basis.

What do you think?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

An interesting article about possible infectious disease causes of schizophrenia and perhaps autism and other mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia, cat parasite link under study - chicagotribune.com

Personally, I have never been of the opinion that some illnesses are "just mental". Seems to me, all physical illnesses affect mood and behavior, and I think it is likely all mood and behavior type illnesses have some physical basis.

What do you think?

So depression is just a side effect of some other disease? I do not think so. Serotonin and a couple of other chemicals in the brain are proven to effect depression.

 

[strollingbones]

dementia or alzheimers has nothing to do with the physcial

 

[Madeline]

An interesting article about possible infectious disease causes of schizophrenia and perhaps autism and other mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia, cat parasite link under study - chicagotribune.com

Personally, I have never been of the opinion that some illnesses are "just mental". Seems to me, all physical illnesses affect mood and behavior, and I think it is likely all mood and behavior type illnesses have some physical basis.

What do you think?

So depression is just a side effect of some other disease? I do not think so. Serotonin and a couple of other chemicals in the brain are proven to effect depression.

Well, an illness is considered "mental" if it is exclusively or predominately symptomatic via mood or behavior disturbances, RetiredGySgt. If people get a parasite or infection and have few physical symptoms but develop psychiatric ones as a result, ain't that a pretty typical disease pattern?

 

[Madeline]

dementia or alzheimers has nothing to do with the physcial

I don't know if the article would have any bearing on alzheimers. bones. But don't they already know that people with alzheimers undergo changes in brain structure, etc.?

 

[lizzie]

An interesting article about possible infectious disease causes of schizophrenia and perhaps autism and other mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia, cat parasite link under study - chicagotribune.com

Personally, I have never been of the opinion that some illnesses are "just mental". Seems to me, all physical illnesses affect mood and behavior, and I think it is likely all mood and behavior type illnesses have some physical basis.

What do you think?

There may be a case here or there (of the more "exotic" types of mental illness) that are linked to a purely physical cause, but it's my observation that most are cases of ineffective coping mechanisms, usually related to upbringing, with a genetic tendency often observed. Virtually everyone I know would benefit from having a really good psycholanalist.

 

[Big Fitz]

Don't forget the plaque on the brain that is associated with Alzheimers. There is a physical component that may be linked to aluminum cooking pots.

I do think that there are some diseases that are mental in nature brought on by repetitive patterns caused by depression, anger, stress, whatever that make the brain more susceptible to disruptions in biochemistry.

But, at the same time, this could be ONE cause.

 

[lizzie]

dementia or alzheimers has nothing to do with the physcial

I honestly wonder if many of the cases of dementia we see are unrecognized and untreated depression, which leads to a permanent dysfunction in emotional/mental status.

 

[Madeline]

An interesting article about possible infectious disease causes of schizophrenia and perhaps autism and other mental illnesses.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia, cat parasite link under study - chicagotribune.com

Personally, I have never been of the opinion that some illnesses are "just mental". Seems to me, all physical illnesses affect mood and behavior, and I think it is likely all mood and behavior type illnesses have some physical basis.

What do you think?

There may be a case here or there (of the more "exotic" types of mental illness) that are linked to a purely physical cause, but it's my observation that most are cases of ineffective coping mechanisms, usually related to upbringing, with a genetic tendency often observed. Virtually everyone I know would benefit from having a really good psycholanalist.

I'd agree with you as to garden variety neurosis and personality disorders, but not as to pychosis, schizophrenia, etc. I find the notion that medical science might discover a cause, and mebbe a cure, just wonderful.

I doubt we'll ever have a cure for "being an asshole" though.

 

[Madeline]

dementia or alzheimers has nothing to do with the physcial

I honestly wonder if many of the cases of dementia we see are unrecognized and untreated depression, which leads to a permanent dysfunction in emotional/mental status.

I'm sure that anything that stresses the brain aggravates dementia, but the loss of memory and mental functioning of dementia ain't symptoms of depression.

They really are two different diseases....but mebbe a person with both degenerates faster.

 

[AllieBaba]

dementia or alzheimers has nothing to do with the physcial

good grief, bones, that is so incredibly ignorant. Of course it's physical. They know what it is, they just can't prevent it.

 

[AllieBaba]

I have trouble with the toxoplasmosis thing because schizophrenia looks to be genetic. It runs in families.

 

[lizzie]

dementia or alzheimers has nothing to do with the physcial

I honestly wonder if many of the cases of dementia we see are unrecognized and untreated depression, which leads to a permanent dysfunction in emotional/mental status.

I'm sure that anything that stresses the brain aggravates dementia, but the loss of memory and mental functioning of dementia ain't symptoms of depression.

They really are two different diseases....but mebbe a person with both degenerates faster.

What I have seen on a repeating basis, is that elderly people often seem to start having signs of dementia after an emotional trauma of some sort (death of a loved one being common). They start becoming confused and disoriented, lose weight, and their sleeping patterns get really screwed up. These are common signs of serious depression (as opposed to the blues and normal loss reactions). The emotional trauma over-stresses the stress response hormones, with falling DHEA levels and rising cortisol levels, then the neurotransmitters in the brain start malfunctioning. If left untreated in younger people, the symptoms will often reverse, because they have higher stress level hormones. Elderly people already have low levels, and I believe they have difficulty recovering, so the symptoms persist until it becomes normal for them.

 

[Madeline]

I have trouble with the toxoplasmosis thing because schizophrenia looks to be genetic. It runs in families.

The article posits that it may take a genetic vulnerability to allow an infection to cause schizophrenia. Which would make sense; recessive genes would explain why schizophrenia has not been bred out by evolutionary factors.

 

[Madeline]

I honestly wonder if many of the cases of dementia we see are unrecognized and untreated depression, which leads to a permanent dysfunction in emotional/mental status.

I'm sure that anything that stresses the brain aggravates dementia, but the loss of memory and mental functioning of dementia ain't symptoms of depression.

They really are two different diseases....but mebbe a person with both degenerates faster.

What I have seen on a repeating basis, is that elderly people often seem to start having signs of dementia after an emotional trauma of some sort (death of a loved one being common). They start becoming confused and disoriented, lose weight, and their sleeping patterns get really screwed up. These are common signs of serious depression (as opposed to the blues and normal loss reactions). The emotional trauma over-stresses the stress response hormones, with falling DHEA levels and rising cortisol levels, then the neurotransmitters in the brain start malfunctioning. If left untreated in younger people, the symptoms will often reverse, because they have higher stress level hormones. Elderly people already have low levels, and I believe they have difficulty recovering, so the symptoms persist until it becomes normal for them.

Well, I know they have a long way to go to discover a cause/cure, lizzie, but this is hopeful new data. Meanwhile, I wouldn't allow any pregnant woman I loved to change the cat litter box.

 

[AllieBaba]

Why on earth would it breed out? Often it doesn't even present until after people have kids.

 

[Madeline]

Typical age for the onset of schizophrenia is late teens/young adulthood. "Typical" dun mean nobody of an older age ever gets it, but severely mentally ill people are less likely to mate and reproduce than healthy people.

 

[AllieBaba]

Tell that to my ex's family.

His aunt died in an institution and had children..
His sister will likely die in an institution (she's in and out, more in than out) and has 4 kids. Her oldest has 4 kids of her own.

 

[Madeline]

I'm very sorry to hear that, Allie. Schizophrenia is a truely horrible disease.