The JUSTICE EQUATION in MENTAL HEALTH

(in the US we should have Parity, Olmstead & Medicaid Network Adequacy -
BUT those LAWS are not effectively enforced at a practical Federal Administrative Level)

On top of that, we have a Mental Health Profession using an OUTDATED diagnostic manual.

 There's a lot driving the Mental Health Crisis in:

• ​Colorado
• Nationally, and
• Globally

​
Further, there are local and regional drivers --- everything from:

• ​War to
• Complications associated with High Altitude

​ ​ ​

Seemingly two of the BIG DRIVERS involving the IMMUNE SYSTEM are:

• ​The Old Friends Hypothesis, and
• DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION
  • ​To make matters more complicated, DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION (low grade inflammation is associated with "intelligence")
    • ​General intelligence is associated with subclinical inflammation in Nepalese children 

SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION is associated with NEURO-DIVERSITY

• Maternal acute and chronic inflammation in pregnancy is associated with common neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review (ADHD, Autism & Tourette Syndrome) ​

​SOME SPECIAL ABILITIES

• 6 Strengths & Benefits of ADHD (Medical News Today)
• Five Research-Based Strengths Associated with Autism (Stages Learning)
• ​Strengths of Tourette Syndrome (Univ. of Florida)​

PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

• ​ADHD Comorbidities & Related Conditions (ADDitude online)
  • "​Roughly 80 percent of those with ADHD are diagnosed with at least one other psychiatric disorder sometime during their life."
• Autism’s Clinical Companions: Frequent Comorbidities with ASD (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)
  • ​"As many as 85% of children with autism also have some form of comorbid psychiatric diagnosis, and 35% are taking at least 1 psychotropic medication as treatment."
• Tourette syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders: a comprehensive review  (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry & Mental Health)
  • "The available evidence suggests the following: (1) neurodevelopmental comorbidities in TS are the rule, rather than the exception; (2) attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most frequent; (3) there is a continuum from a simple (TS + ADHD or/and learning disorder) to a more complex phenotype (TS + autism spectrum disorder)." ​

So generally as a population we've liked the special abilities and NOT the psychiatric disorders.

• ​​​But we've been selecting for those "SPECIAL ABILITIES" and there are now more and more people with BOTH those "SPECIAL ABILITIES" and "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS."
  • ​Those "SPECIAL ABILITIES" can be academic, athletic or creative.
  • The "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS" are generally not distinct as presented in the DSM 5 -- but tend to be "BLURRED" -- which makes sense if a common mechanism is often MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION.
  • Both the "SPECIAL ABILITIES" and "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS" appear to be related in part to differences in Sensory and Information Processing.

​MENTAL HEALTH BY THE NUMBERS

​​The scope of the burden of "psychiatric disorders" in Colorado, the US and the World is HUGE.

• So when the State of Colorado is proposing 62 new beds and Mental Health Colorado says we need over 2,800 new beds --- we see the problem.
• Further, we need thousands more SUPPORTIVE HOUSING SLOTS ---- it cost the State of Colorado over $1.5 million dollars for 25 new Supportive Housing apartments.
• In the LONG TERM -- we've got to have better UNDERSTANDINGS and TREATMENTS and it appears that's coming and may be here for the NEXT GENERATION.
• In the meantime, we've got to get better at working with what we've got:
  • ​Often people with SIGNIFICANT EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING CHALLENGES, and
  • ABILITIES in select areas that are often higher than the NORM.