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COGNITIVE DISABILITY IN THIS COUNTRY HAS ALREADY ---"OVERWHELMED THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM"

12/31/2020

We currently have a small percentage of the Cognitive Disability Population that makes up the vast majority of the Criminal Justice Population --- a lot of that being not just "mental illness," but brain injury and developmental disability.

Further, we've got an out-of-date DSM.

Further, a lot of major research is moving in the direction of the IMMUNE SYSTEM playing a major role in "mental illness" and other cognitive disorders.

We've got LAWS that policymakers sometimes feel JUSTIFIED in IGNORING because they are spending a lot on "mental illness."

BUT we can't be afraid to get that voluntary data --- much of which is on the Streets and conveniently in State Custody.

Further we've got to have WAITLISTS for HOUSING, PLACEMENTS & INTENSIVE SERVICES --- moving at a REASONABLE PACE ---- WE DON'T HAVE THAT IN COLORADO.

We need to RECOGNIZE that "MENTAL ILLNESS" and "COGNITIVE DISABILITY" are a lot harder than COVID.

This is a much longer and harder haul in some ways.

The exciting thing is we already are starting to have those NEW SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDINGS that are breaking with 50 years of stagnation.

Image Credit: Inc.com

The Need for a New Integrated DSM

BEYOND MEDIA DOCUMENTATION OF THE "MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS"

12/26/2020

TO GOVERNMENT DATA COLLECTION, HOUSING, PLACEMENT & SERVICE PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION, AND

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CURRENT TREATMENT LIMITATIONS AND THE DESPERATE NEED FOR MORE ADVANCED UNDERSTANDINGS AND TREATMENTS

   There have been a lot of media reports and media series on the Mental Health Crisis in Colorado as well as lawsuits.

The CHALLENGE of UNDERSTANDING the problem as a BIOLOGICAL PROBLEM that has TRAUMATIC, PSYCHOLOGICAL &/or PHYSICAL Aspects HAS BEEN PROBLEMATIC to say the least.

  Each person brings with them volumes and volumes of idiosyncratic information that have to be reconciled with our current understandings.

Our current understandings of "mental illness" have been under a lot of pressure.

  Many of these CHALLENGES in "Mental Illness" CONCEPTUALIZATION are being met by RESEARCHERS and new findings of "SOCIAL BEHAVIOR" ---- as a product of the INNATE & ADAPTIVE IMMUNE SYSTEMS.

Who Would've Thunk It.

It is also fitting into a BROADER INCREASE of IMMUNE-RELATED DISEASES, DISORDERS, SYNDROMES in the Modern, Developed World which has quickly started to rise in the Developing World as well.

Everyone is sculpted by their Mother's IMMUNE SYSTEM and their own whether they have "Mental Illness" or not. Ultimately, people want CONTROL over this.

All of this is a long way of saying we need a lot more money for TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH and MEDICINE for the benefit of Clinicians and Patients.

Right NOW:

We need comprehensive waitlists for:

Housing
Placements, and
Intensive Services, including Assertive Community Treatment and Supported Employment

We need a Reasonable Plan to bring:

Housing
Placements, and
Intensive Services, including Assertive Community Treatment & Supported Employment

TO SCALE to meet the need that is fully implemented by 2030.

Old Friends Hypothesis

FUNDING FOR INTEGRATED IMMUNO-PSYCHIATRY CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

12/25/2020

We've got a pretty exhausted mental health profession and a population that has a lot of "mental health problems."

Policy makers don't know where they are going to get the money for all this and we're not exactly getting on top of it either.

The Immuno-Psychiatry branch of medicine looks like the best shot we've got right now.

We would say it needs to include endocrinology and gastro-enterology and the microbiome as well.

People with mental illness deserve a better mental health profession than what we've got --- and mental health professionals certainly deserve a lot more research support than what they are getting.

ARE WE PUNISHING "T-CELL DEFICIENCIES?"

12/24/2020

IT SURE LOOKS LIKE IT, OR AT THE VERY LEAST RESEARCHERS ARE THROWING "REASONABLE DOUBT" ALL OVER OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

How many forensic psychologists and psychiatrists are well versed in the Immune System and Behavior.

Not many.

For that matter it is not just forensic mental health professionals, it is mental health professionals across the board that have not been provided ESSENTIAL TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH and MEDICINE.

I feel the obvious --- namely, we don't have a competent mental health profession -- is going to be rejected out of hand. But it is still true.

This isn't about bringing individuals to account, it's about bringing SYSTEMS to account and reforming them responsibly.

Not surprisingly, the mental health profession and system of care are related to other systems in our society such as the Criminal Justice System.

If researchers are bringing to the table a radical new understanding of human behavior that involves the IMMUNE SYSTEM --- it is hard to see how that doesn't impact the Criminal Justice System.

T Cells and Neurons Talk To Each Other (Oct. 2020)

Conversations between the immune and central nervous systems are proving to be essential for the healthy social behavior, learning, and memory.

How the Immune System Controls Social Behavior (2016)

Researchers have found a new mechanism that could explain the link between social dysfunction and immune dysfunction.

And in terms of treating and understanding social dysfunction associated with disorders, the immune system is “easier to target than synapses in the brain,”

See 26:26: Deficiency of T-Cells related to anti-social behavior.

The RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences in Japan

Activation of immune T cells leads to behavioral changes (2017)

Immune Cell Signaling to the Brain Regulates Anxiety-Like Behaviors (Sept. 2020)

Aggression, Social Stress, and the Immune System in Humans and Animal Models (2018)

We argue that while depression and aggression represent two fundamentally different behavioral and physiological responses to social stress, it is possible that some overlapped, as well as distinct, pattern of immune signaling may underlie both of them.

We also argue the necessity of studying animal models of maladaptive aggression induced by social stress (i.e., social isolation) for understanding neuro-immune mechanism of aggression, which may be relevant to human aggression.

SENSORY &/OR INFORMATION OVERLOAD ---ARE PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS A SECONDARY SYMPTOM?

12/22/2020

We are dealing with "BLURRED" psychiatric categories according the the National Institute of Mental Health.
Specifically, NIMH found calcium channel disruptions in ADHD, Autism, Bipolar Disorder Depression and Schizophrenia.
Further, there seems to be an immune system link or dysregulation involved in all these disorders.
We would argue that among other things people are struggling with information and sensory overload -- it is taking considerable emotion/reason to process.
Further, I think this is a lot more than we all need to take time to "process our emotions."

This can be almost a 24/7 endeavor and many people are looking to shut down sources of stimulation because they are already overloaded.

Star Institute. The Star Institute is located in Centennial, Colorado.

Virginia Spielmann, Associate Director at STAR Institute talks about Sensory Processing Disorder and anxiety from an Occupational Therapy perspective and whether anxiety is a secondary symptom.

Acclaimed neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: The Brain is the Servant of the Body.

Damasio is author of a number of books, including "Decartes Error" in which he argues among other things that Emotion is necessary for Reason.

What happens if you have much more information and sensory data to process than the average person has to process?

IS THAT GOOD OR BAD?

It seems more and more obvious that we DO NOT have UNLIMITED CAPABILITIES to process INFORMATION and SENSORY STIMULATION.

Further, immune dysregulation may be an underlying factor in information and / or sensory overload.

This ENLIGHTENING 20/20 episode on Carly Fleishmann with non-verbal autism --- was posted on YouTube by the Star Institute in 2012.

Ted-Ed: This fascinating exploration of TURBULENCE within Van Gogh's painting -- hints at the unexpected information overload he may have been dealing with.

Was Van Gogh the sensitive creative of song writer Don McLean's imagining or a smelly alcoholic jerk in the assessment of English art critic Waldemar Januszczak?

The reality for many people with psychiatric disorders can be very much --- ALL OF THE ABOVE.

And many people with psychiatric disorders are looking to temper the downsides and get more control of the gifts -- just as much as the Society is as well.

Dr. Gail Salz in her Book "The Power of Different" -- the Link Between Disorder and Genius -- was a welcome recognition of the substantial gifts of many people with "disorders."

I would submit the link is a not very mysterious access to greater information and /or sensory stimulation.

A NEW ROLE FOR THE American Psychiatric Association

12/21/2020

THE OUT-OF-DATE DSM IS BEING REFORMED & REPLACED BY THE WORK OF RESEARCHERS AND MEDICAL ACADEMICS

There's another article in Medscape regarding the Trials & Tribulations of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA's) DSM 5.

Old Soldiers never die according to Gen. MacArthur -- they just fade away. That may very well be true for the DSM as well.

From our perspective, a propriety professional organization such as the APA SHOULD NOT be in charge of a "DIAGNOSTIC MANUAL."

But 40 years ago -- there was nobody else to do it.

Further, when the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 2013 found the DSM lacking scientific validity --- the response was the RDoC Program --- the Research Domain Criteria Program.

RDoC is important, it is continuing --- but it wasn't the rapid replacement of the DSM that many had hoped.

In the meantime, findings have been flooding out of the world's major research institutions and academics have been writing books on psychiatry and immunology, endocrinology, the microbiome, etc.

So in a lot of ways that replacement for the DSM is already here and it looks a lot more like a TRADITIONAL MEDICAL DISCIPLINE.

THAT VITAL ROLE for the APA

Advocate for MASSIVE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH & MEDICINE
Advocate for Integration of Psychiatry with other Medical Disciplines, including Neurology, Immunology, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, etc.

This is good for patients and its good for mental health professionals.

There is a great irony in "mental disorders" that are connected to so many systems of the body -- would be ISOLATED and MALTREATED or INAPPROPRIATELY TREATED for most of HUMAN HISTORY.

It's because of the APA and others that we are on the cusp of a much more INTEGRATED and EFFECTIVE TREATMENT of "MENTAL DISORDERS."

WHAT DOES INTEGRATION OF "MENTAL HEALTH" MEAN?

12/20/2020

AT MINIMUM IT MEANS INTEGRATION OF PSYCHIATRY/NEUROLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, ENDOCRINOLOGY & GASTROENTEREOLOGY

Psychiatry is in many ways having its very own CLIMATE CHANGE CRISIS.

It is becoming more and more clear that psychiatric problems involve multiple systems of the body that psychiatrists are often not well-versed in, much less the LEGAL SYSTEM.

To me, the source of INJUSTICE is NOT IGNORANCE PER SE. We're always in some form of ignorance.

It's really that we are afraid to acknowledge that these large knowledge gaps make many of our systems UNTENABLE.

As SCIENCE is racing ahead of clinicians largely because we haven't FUNDED sufficient translational research, the WISDOM of refraining from moral judgments or moral judgments disguised as legal judgments is also more and more clear.

WE GOTTA HAVE SAFETY
We must acknowledge reality --- we don't know everything --- and we're not likely to know everything anytime soon.
It's Time for a Public Health Approach to Criminal Justice ---
We probably want to bring in those Epidemiologists, too -- if we're serious about reducing the incidence of cognitive disability in the society.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BIPOLAR DISORDER AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, THYROID DISORDER, OSTEOPOROSIS AND BLOOD SERUM TOXICITY

12/20/2020

There's always a tension between wanting to acknowledge the real strengths and benefits that can come from SUPER SENSITIVITY to the ENVIRONMENT and the sometimes SCARY REALITIES of that.

It is seeming more and more that individual manifestations of "mental illness" involve dysregulation of the immune system.

For many of us, it would be hard for us to be more "sensitive" than we are --- and we may already be "too sensitive" for our own good.

With the classic autoimmune diseases such as MS, it's the physical symptoms that are most apparent, and the person may develop psychiatric symptoms.

With most mental illnesses the pattern is reversed -- what is most obvious are the psychiatric symptoms and the person may develop later physical symptoms associated with autoimmune diseases.

This has made it incredibly hard to recognize "mental Illness" without the standard visual clues of an immune-related disorder.

Now that I have bipolar disorder, thyroid disorder and osteoporosis ---- it's not that hard for me to see bipolar disorder as immune-related as well.

I don't really want to hear about "blood serum toxity" in people with bipolar disorder ---- BUT it is so important to ground mental illness in the BIOLOGY so people can better understand it.

Further, one of the big reasons we've failed to adequately provide housing, placements and services for people with mental illness --- we continually UNDERESTIMATE what is required.

Hopefully, if we better understand the BIOLOGY that will be less of a problem.

Mood Disorders and Osteoporosis

Ever-changing moods may be toxic to the brain of bipolar patients

The blood of bipolar patients is toxic to brain cells and affects the connectivity ability of neurons, a new study shows

Date: May 31, 2016
Source: Publicase Comunicação Científica

Summary:
A new study shows that the blood of bipolar patients is toxic to brain cells and may affect the connectivity ability of neurons.

The research group also presents an in vitro study model for a disease for which no animal model has been yet developed.

Bipolar Disorder and Multiple Sclerosis

Mental Illness & Thyroid Disorder

Physical Illness, Mental Health, the Immune System, the Microbiome and the Endocrine System

What's the moral & Ethical problem WITH FINDING "BIOMARKERS" FOR "ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER"

12/19/2020

According to some neuro-biologists, humans developed / acquired their moral sense about 50,000 years ago.

A lot of what we have been doing in the last 50,000 years is EDUCATING our moral sense.

When we talk KNOWLEDGE and biomarkers and the biological basis for "anti-social behavior" ---

it's complicated,
it may be different between men and women
in some cases it's associated with trauma
it may be associated with maternal viral infection even in the absence of microglial changes [What's the Point? Maybe one can suffer damage from maternal viral infection even without immune system microglial changes]

REASON in 2020 bends heavily towards biological explanations of behavior which can be impacted by environment.

Where does that leave the LAW? We have a lot of assumptions around human intent that are problematic at best and likely false.

Specifically, "intent" becomes more and more problematic as a moral arbiter the more 'intent" is recognized as a function of biology.

Even assuming that no side can conclusively win the debate (the case for the status quo is becoming more and more problematic) ----

WHO BEARS THE BURDEN OF PROOF?

The practical reality is not pretty -- largely indigent defendants bear the burden whether they should or not.

That is why we desperately need housing, placements and services to scale for people with cognitive disabilities, and especially for disfavored people with cognitive disabilities.

That is not just for them --- it is to take the moral weight off the rest of us as well.

Biomarkers & Anti-Social Personality Disorder

Orchid's 2020 Report on Anti-Social Personality Disorder & the Criminal Justice System

"NOTHING IS RELATED"--"ALIE NATION" BY A TRIBE CALLED RED

12/16/2020

    Nobody's recommending ditching our critical thinking skills to see "RELATIONSHIPS" in the Society and the World.

In fact, we really have to put a lot of those critical thinking skills in hibernation to go along with a lot of what we're doing in this society, especially when it comes to Criminal Justice.

  On the other hand, there have been criminal justice reform efforts in this country and others for at least a couple hundred years.

More recently, there has been a big push on the SOCIAL DETERMINANTS of HEALTH and countries like Sweden are moving away from PUNISHMENT to GETTING PEOPLE IN "BETTER SHAPE."

One of the problems more recently has been that we have viewed behavioral challenges through a SOLELY PSYCHIATRIC LENS. --- That is NOT EXACTLY WRONG . . . BUT

  It is looking more and more that those PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS are related to problems with:

The Innate and/or Adaptive Immune Systems
The Microbiome, and/or
The Endocrine System

All this is highlighting the WISDOM of the JUSTICE SYSTEM's move to PROBLEM-SOLVING COURTS.

Our understanding of these behavioral issues is becoming MORE COMPLICATED, not less.

Now the Justice System is largely stepping in where our HEALTHCARE SYSTEM is NOT SUFFICIENT to address the issues.

The GOAL has to be a HEALTHCARE SYSTEM that is SUFFICIENT to address the issues. That is:

Research
Translational Research & Medicine,
Integrated Physical & Mental Health Care.

AND ---

Housing
Placements, and
Services, including Supported Employment

TO SCALE

"ALie Nation" by A Tribe Called Red

As strong as we feel about the importance of understanding the underlying biology of behavior that's one dimension to an integrated whole.

It doesn't negate:

the Spiritual
the Social
the Environmental

Just as recognizing the importance of the immune system doesn't negate the importance of the brain.

Anthropologist Helen Fisher

Our point is that biology, spirituality, the social environment and the physical environment are CONNECTED in COMPLICATED WAYS not completely understood.

That knowledge that we know just enough to know some of the Society's assumptions are not quite right BUT not enough to get the PERFECT RIGHT ANSWER --- is forcing a difficult RE-ASSESSMENT of what we're doing.

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Val's Blog

COGNITIVE DISABILITY IN THIS COUNTRY HAS ALREADY ---"OVERWHELMED THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM"

BEYOND MEDIA DOCUMENTATION OF THE "MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS"

TO GOVERNMENT DATA COLLECTION, HOUSING, PLACEMENT & SERVICE PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION, AND

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CURRENT TREATMENT LIMITATIONS AND THE DESPERATE NEED FOR MORE ADVANCED UNDERSTANDINGS AND TREATMENTS

FUNDING FOR INTEGRATED IMMUNO-PSYCHIATRY CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

ARE WE PUNISHING "T-CELL DEFICIENCIES?"

IT SURE LOOKS LIKE IT, OR AT THE VERY LEAST RESEARCHERS ARE THROWING "REASONABLE DOUBT" ALL OVER OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

SENSORY &/OR INFORMATION OVERLOAD ---ARE PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS A SECONDARY SYMPTOM?

A NEW ROLE FOR THE American Psychiatric Association

THE OUT-OF-DATE DSM IS BEING REFORMED & REPLACED BY THE WORK OF RESEARCHERS AND MEDICAL ACADEMICS

WHAT DOES INTEGRATION OF "MENTAL HEALTH" MEAN?

AT MINIMUM IT MEANS INTEGRATION OF PSYCHIATRY/NEUROLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, ENDOCRINOLOGY & GASTROENTEREOLOGY

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BIPOLAR DISORDER AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, THYROID DISORDER, OSTEOPOROSIS AND BLOOD SERUM TOXICITY

What's the moral & Ethical problem WITH FINDING "BIOMARKERS" FOR "ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER"

"NOTHING IS RELATED"--"ALIE NATION" BY A TRIBE CALLED RED

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Val's Blog

TO GOVERNMENT DATA COLLECTION, HOUSING, PLACEMENT & SERVICE PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION, ANDACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CURRENT TREATMENT LIMITATIONS AND THE DESPERATE NEED FOR MORE ADVANCED UNDERSTANDINGS AND TREATMENTS

IT SURE LOOKS LIKE IT, OR AT THE VERY LEAST RESEARCHERS ARE THROWING "REASONABLE DOUBT" ALL OVER OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

AT MINIMUM IT MEANS INTEGRATION OF PSYCHIATRY/NEUROLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, ENDOCRINOLOGY & GASTROENTEREOLOGY

Author

Archives

Categories

TO GOVERNMENT DATA COLLECTION, HOUSING, PLACEMENT & SERVICE PLANNING & IMPLEMENTATION, AND

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CURRENT TREATMENT LIMITATIONS AND THE DESPERATE NEED FOR MORE ADVANCED UNDERSTANDINGS AND TREATMENTS