The Respiratory System & Mental Health

Conjecture

I remember my Art History Professor saying, "Art paints a 1,000 words --- IF you know the language."

I tend to think of things in terms of "LANGUAGES."

Human Biology which is NOT IDENTICAL to the biology of other Animals but is similar can be thought of as a kind of LANGUAGE.

The DSM 5 with its "CLUSTERS OF SYMPTOMS" is a kind of language and it's a lot about SURFACE OBSERVATION.

The underlying ASSUMPTION is that "MENTAL HEALTH" and "Mental Illness" are about "THE BRAIN."

I think "MENTAL HEALTH" is about "THE BRAIN" and the "CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM" --- and those are very, very complicated.

For me personally, one of my favorite ART FORMS is FILM because it combines so many other forms of ART.

My roommate in college --- she wanted to be a Film Director and if I wasn't doing what I'm doing --- that sounds pretty cool to me too.

So what I'm trying to get at is when we think of "MENTAL HEALTH" and "MENTAL ILLNESS" we need to be bringing in "A LOT":

• Probably ALL the SYSTEMS of the BODY
  • the Immune System
  • the Endocrine System
  • the Metabolism
  • the Cardio-Vascular System
  • the Microbiome --- this is relatively new
    • [Hey, I thought we already knew all the Systems of the Body!?]
  • etc.
• The Social Determinants of Health
  • FOOD & HOUSING being right up there
• The other Humans and Animals we're around
  • Cat infections have been associated with Human mental health problems
• The Chemicals and Substances in the Environment that we're exposed to --- in the Physical and Natural Environment
  • Lead
  • Plastics
  • Pesticides
  • naturally occurring Radon
  • etc.
• Altitude
• Heat/Cold --- etc.

I've spent a lot of time on the Immune System, the Endocrine System, the Metabolism and the Microbiome.

One of the Systems of the BODY --- I have not spent as much time on is the RESPIRATORY SYSTEM --- although I have touched on "SLEEP APNEA."

• Mental Health & Sleep Apnea --- When the Coping Mechanism You Need is OXYGEN --- There Really Is No Substitute

Before we have the FULL RESULTS of the US National Institute of Mental Health's RDoc Program (Research Domain Criteria Program) ---One thing we might do in addition to the traditional mental health questionnaire -- is go through an OVERVIEW of the SYSTEMS of the BODY and Concerns that often also have "PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS."

The Need for a New Integrated DSM

Selected Studies on the Respiratory System & Mental Health

Mental health problems, obstructive lung disease and lung function: findings from the general population (2011)

Affiliation

1 Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and Schön Klinik Hamburg-Eilbek, Hamburg, Germany.

Methods: The 12-month prevalence of specific psychopathological syndromes among 1772 adults from the general population was estimated by a structured interview.

Additionally, participants underwent spirometry and were asked about obstructive lung disease in the year prior to the study.

Logistic and linear regression models were used to relate obstructive lung disease and spirometrically defined airway obstruction to mental health problems.

Results: Mental health problems were found in 35.7% of the participants. After adjusted for sociodemographic, clinical and life-style factors, asthma and chronic bronchitis were associated with almost all domains of mental health problems. In contrast, independent of its definition, spirometric airflow limitation was only related to generalized anxiety (odds ratios ranging from 2.3 to 2.7).

A reduced ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity was associated with mental health problems in general and panic and general anxiety in particular.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest an association of objective measure of airflow limitation to generalized anxiety and panic.

While the causal relationship between obstructive lung disease, airflow limitation and anxiety remains to be determined, clinicians should pay diagnostic attention to the significant overlap of these conditions.

Screening for obstructive sleep apnoea in patients with serious mental illness. (2022)

Zhang LY, Anderson J, Higgins N, Robinson J, Francey S, Burke A, Robinson G, Curtin D, Tay G. Australas Psychiatry. 2022 Oct;30(5):615-618. doi: 10.1177/10398562221108632. Epub 2022 Jun 17. PMID: 35714679

OBJECTIVE: Patients with serious mental illness (SMI) are at increased risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). ...Of the five patients who agreed to proceed to diagnostic sleep testing, three were diagnosed with OSA.

CONCLUSION: A high proportio …

Metabolomics in Sleep, Insomnia and Sleep Apnea. (2019)

Humer E, Pieh C, Brandmayr G. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Sep 30;21(19):7244. doi: 10.3390/ijms21197244. PMID: 33008070 Free PMC article. Review.

This review aims to summarize the status of metabolomic analyses-based knowledge on sleep disorders and to present knowledge in understanding the metabolic role of sleep in psychiatric disorders.

...In insomnia, alterations in branched-chain amino acid and glucose m …

The Intersection of Sleep Apnea and Severe Mental Illness in Veterans. (2019)

Soreca I, Tighe CA, Bramoweth AD. Psychosomatics. 2019 Sep-Oct;60(5):481-487. doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2019.01.007. Epub 2019 Jan 22. PMID: 30744999 Free PMC article.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) have a high prevalence of risk factors for sleep apnea, but these risk factors often go unrecognized, partly due to the overlap among sleep apnea, somatic conditions, and symptoms …

Afghanistan and Iraq War Veterans: Mental Health Diagnoses are Associated with Respiratory Disease Diagnoses (2018)

Affiliations

• 1 Center to Improve Veteran Involvement in Care, VA Portland Health Care System, (R&D 66) 3710 SW US Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR 97239.
• 2 Section of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, VA Portland Health Care System, 3710 SW U.S. Veterans Hospital Road, Portland, OR 97239.
• 3 Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, OHSU Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Mail Code UHN6, Portland, OR 97239-3098.
• 4 Department of Veterans Affairs, War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System, 385 Tremont Ave, Mail Stop 129, East Orange, NJ 07018-1095.
• 5 Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, New Jersey Medical School, The State University of New Jersey, Stanley S. Bergen Building, 65 Bergen Street, Newark, NJ 07103.
• 6 School of Public Health, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, MC: GH230, Portland, OR 97239.