Category: Science

REASON -- Not a Hot Topic in Cognitive Disability Policy -- BUT it should be

3/9/2020

Some of what I write is really an ACT OF FAITH -- it may never catch on or it may take 2, 3 or even 4 years to gain an audience.
It took about 4 years for "Even A Dog Distinguishes Between Being Stumbled Over And Being Kicked" to register with readers.

I'm a HUGE FAN of SCIENCE but there are REAL CHALLENGES/PROBLEMS with basing ALL our DECISION-MAKING on SCIENCE -- mainly our gold standard of empirical reasoning has a hard time keeping up with HUMAN PROBLEMS.

So here we are with COGNITIVE DISABILITY in THE LEGAL SYSTEM. Is SCIENCE -- IRRELEVANT? Hardly. In 2020, can Science give us all the answers and appropriate treatments -- Hardly.

Well, if we base everything on Science -- we'll just wait -- and most of those answers will ultimately get here.

Is it going to be in our lifetimes -- for many of us -- No.

So what does waiting look like in Cognitive Disability Policy: Services, Housing & Placements are NEVER to SCALE. They are NOT to SCALE in COLORADO -- one of the top economies in the country.

We're waiting for when it's not so EXPENSIVE -- but how long is that going to be and how many hundreds of thousands of people in the US are going to suffer in the interim?

We need to use every bit of SCIENCE we have right now -- but if we don't use our REASON & FAITH (Ethics) -- we will continue our policy of HUMAN SACRIFICE of people with Cognitive Disabilities and our Families and Communities.

"CATEGORIES" AND HUMAN BEHAVIORAL BIOLOGY

10/9/2019

This is a very interesting video of acclaimed Neuro-endocrinologist, Stanford Professor and Author -- Robert Sapolsky on Behavioral Biology.
He really starts by questioning the use of "CATEGORIES" in our "REASONING" regarding Behavioral Biology.
   I'm not sure we get away from the need for "CATEGORIES" --- but it does seem pretty clear we are as Sapolsky argues MISSING THE "BIG PICTURE."
  That picture is that human behavior is caused by a lot of different things and those things are BIOLOGICALLY DRIVEN.
  So our poor use of "CATEGORIES" is NOT just a problem in discussions of pop science -- IT'S A PROBLEM FOR OUR SOCIETY.
It has led and it is CURRENTLY leading to some pretty amazing UNETHICAL CONDUCT by our Society -- especially given our current knowledge.
   Now a BIG part of that knowledge does come from SCIENCE -- but currently SCIENCE can't provide us all the answers.
    I think the need to use our REASON is part of what Sapolsky means by looking @ "THE BIG PICTURE."
    So we need SCIENCE AND REASON.
We would maintain, probably unlike Sapolsky, that we need -- FAITH to help us fill in the blanks the SCIENCE AND REASON don't answer.
SCIENCE, REASON & FAITH are NOT perfect and we must constantly revise them to accommodate new knowledge.
   Finally, we must use our SCIENCE, REASON AND FAITH to REFORM our CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM -- whose "CATEGORIES" couldn't be more "out of date."

DESCARTES' ERROR & RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY, sCIENCE & lAW

3/18/2019

We keep making Descartes' error.

-- I was listening to "Meet the Press" Sunday, and they had Arthur Brooks with the American Enterprise Institute.
Brooks has written a new book entitled, "Love Your Enemies" and was railing against a "Culture of Outrage."
I'm FOR loving one's Enemies BUT the precusor to that kind of LOVE is usually FEAR & ANGER.
That FEAR & ANGER is what FUELS, TRIGGERS ---- our REASONING abilities.
In fact, as Neuro-scientist Antonio Damasio explained in the 1990s -- WE CAN'T REASON WITHOUT EMOTION.
So REASONING triggered by EMOTION is going to FIX IT Right?
We talk A LOT about "ROOT CAUSE" AnalysIs and Systemic Approaches to PROBLEMS.
Well it turns out we can never get to the ROOT CAUSE with this kind of reasoning -- BECAUSE there is ALWAYS SOMETHING ELSE. Even atheist Bertrand Russell admonished that PHILOSOPHY cannot get to 1st Causes.
NOT ONLY do we NOT have FOREVER and a DAY -- BUT EVEN IF WE DID -- It doesn't look like we would ever get to 1st CAUSES through REASON & PHILOSOPHY.
SO we have to inject quite a bit of PRACTICALITY into this --- and that's REALLY where most of our HUMAN DISCIPLINES come in -- including LAW and SCIENCE and I would include in this RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY.
At the end of the day, LAW and SCIENCE and all our other human disciplines haven't "fixed it." Maybe they made it worse, maybe they made it better -- BUT they didn't "FIX IT."
WHAT DOES IT MEAN -- NOT TO FIX IT? Well--

It could be being the most incarcerated country in the World
it could mean living in a World with over 65 million refugees & immigrants;
It could mean illness and death.

Even if RELIGION is as absurd as Kurt Vonnegut portrayed in "Cat's Cradle"-- it's what is left after EVERYTHING ELSE -- has failed us.
Of course, RELIGIONS & SPIRITUAL BELIEFS fail people too -- and those Religions & Beliefs EVOLVE -- and maybe they do LAG after SCIENCE. Further, LAW typically LAGS after SCIENCE.
    RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY, REASON & EMPIRICAL SCIENCE, & LAW -- ALL NEED EACH OTHER DESPERATELY.
In some senses, they are like the ONE PEOPLE of the WORLD struggling against one another -- and whose SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON THE OTHER.

"Descartes Error" could probably be stated a number of ways -- one is that there is no strict separation between Mind & Body, another is there is no strict separation between Emotion and Reason. Descartes thought there was a strict separation.

We've got thousands of people in CO's Criminal Justice System in State Custody:
Why don't we screen these people on a voluntary basis for Brain Injury, Mental Illness, Substance Issues & Developmental Disabilities.

Even more radically, why don't we treat them as best we can currently and NOT PUNISH them for WHAT WE DON'T KNOW.

A picture of Kurt Vonnegut

--"Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut

Science & Religion, Rejecting social Darwinism for a Road less travelled

9/27/2018

There is no universally agreed upon definition of "religion" and we are using it in the broadest sense regarding how we should live our lives and what ethical and moral principles should guide our lives and our societies.

Not everyone feels comfortable with a broad view of religion, like a lot of things in modern society -- our definitions of "religion," "God," "mental illness" and many others are undergoing revision.

In some senses religion in modern Western society has been pretty marginalized, bringing out religious leaders at funerals.

But religious and spiritual beliefs are NOT just for funerals.

I'm not a big fan of de facto Social Darwinism or how it plays itself out in some of our laws and public policies.

We absolutely have to have science, and to my mind science is just as consoling as religious & spiritual beliefs.

But science without religion, without ethical and moral guideposts, is quite horrific.

     In modern society today we have quite a mess with mediocre to bad science dictating conclusions in criminal court and a broken moral & ethical compass in our treatment of people with "invisible disabilities" who find themselves in the criminal justice system or homeless.

Is the way we are proposing hard? Yeah, it is. And if we take the road less travelled, we will be better for it.

But . . .

It's Kinda Funny BUT Religious Folks May Be More Adaptable to the Changing Science than Our Mental Health Profession & Legal Systems

3/22/2018

Certainly, two of the biggest historical scientific revolutions were the Copernican Revolution and Darwinian Evolution.
Now, both those Scientific Revolutions really implicated our Religious beliefs.
The Scientific knowledge we're gaining regarding:

"Immune-Gut-Brain Triangle" or the "Brain-Gut Axis,"
"The Functional Human Connectome,"
Biological Predispositions to Certain Harmful Substances
The role of discrimination in Harming Physical & Mental Health
The role of Trauma in Immune System Damage, and ultimately Cognitive Damage
Etc.

--really implicate our Mental Health and Legal Systems -- and in many ways our Religious Beliefs are ahead of the game.

The Neuroscience Revolution & the Microbiome Revolution, of course, may ultimately represent one of the great ironies of human history.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, Ancient Greek Historian Thucydides saw the benefits of religion -- he also saw its downsides in Superstition and how that could play out in the Society.

Well, the reality is "SCIENCE" is a lot more complicated than we often like to acknowledge and that was really one of the things that Philosopher of Science Thomas Kuhn demonstrated in his book, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" and further developing the concept of the "Paradigm Shift."

From our perspective, the evidence has been around for some time that at the very least we were making pretensions to knowledge we couldn't possibly have, especially when it comes to understanding "bad human behavior."

At the same time, we have to have safety.

The very real possibility that we are further traumatizing already traumatized people and further damaging their immune systems and their cognition -- may take the mental health & legal systems quite awhile to come to terms with.

BUT our Religious folks may be able to do this much more quickly. Are they the ones who are really ready for the 21st Century?

Saint Augustine

Robin Williams

New Science Is Amazing & It has huge moral implications for our society -- now

Pope Francis

Religious Historian Karen Armstrong

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. -- great American historian who worked from 1939 to 2006 -- Wikipedia

The Legal System, Trauma-Informed Care & The Living Hell of Catch-22s

3/17/2018

Author Joseph Heller popularized the term “Catch-22” in the book of the same name which he picked up in his experiences in World War II.
Catch-22 is really a LIVING HELL. If you’re an attorney --- you’ve probably been in many Catch-22s or LIVING HELLS, but you’ve probably been in a Catch-22 if you’re a human being – it’s a pretty common part of the Human Experience and operating in our imperfect societies and systems.
So I think ONE of the Catch-22s of legal practice is that sometimes:

People exhibit behavior that doesn’t rise to the level of “imminent danger” BUT that behavior is nonetheless, pretty out there;
At least in some cases those behaviors are a result of abuse or other injustices [or it might be the result of a Brain Tumor, Sleep Apnea, it MIGHT be the result of A LOT of THINGS];
Now even in cases of extreme SOCIAL STRESS on the person, this can and often does affect the person BIOLOGICALLY.
So what’s an attorney to do – GET THE PERSON SOME HELP – we say as an ENLIGHTENED ATTORNEY.
BUT HERE’S WHERE THE CATCH-22 COMES IN
Taking away AGENCY & SOCIAL VIEW OF COMPETENCY increases SOCIAL STRESS AND MAKES THE PERSON WORSE.
Any talk of “TRADITIONAL OR NON-TRADITIONAL MENTAL HEALTH HELP” or a Limited Legal Representative, EVEN talk of a Limited Something with the Person Retaining Decisional Control – MAKES THE PERSON DEMONSTRABLY WORSE.

Well, how does this play out in the Criminal & Civil Justice Systems?
        Well, one of the big arguments in the “Mental Health Community” is are people with mental illness “PERPETRATORS” of crime or “VICTIMS” of crime and injustice.
         Well, the sad is truth is they are well-represented in BOTH CATEGORIES and sometimes if not often in the same person. VICTIMIZATION pretty predictably leads to TRAUMA and that can lead to a whole host of mental complaints, NOT just Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
         This is why we need to have some PRETTY SOPHISTICATED TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE in both our Civil & Criminal Justice Systems.

          So a lot of VICTIMS of crime or some type of civil injustice never get their day in Court or Alternative Dispute Resolution Process – not only because they don’t have the money [which they don’t] but they often don’t have it together enough EMOTIONALLY for an attorney to work with them under many common PROFESSIONAL ETHICS RULES.

   Well what’s the attorney going to do? Seek a Legal Representative? Even talk of that makes the person much worse. Even talk of a very Limited Something makes the person much worse.
            So I don’t have the COMPLETE ANSWER to this right now. I do think it has a lot to do with a STRENGTH-BASED APPROACH, EDUCATING OURSELVES & OTHERS REGARDING THE LATEST SCIENCE, & LISTENING.
             As with most Catch-22s – this is where we need to PAY ATTENTION the most if we want to get out of our LIVING HELLS.

Alan Arkin as Yossarin in "Catch-22"

Effects of Social Stress on Mental Health

"Social Stress Leads To Changes In Gut Bacteria" -- Georgia State University http://news.gsu.edu/2018/03/08/social-stress-leads-changes-gut-bacteria-study-finds/
Social Stress & Addiction -- from the Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, reported on mentalhealthtreatment.net.

http://mentalhealthtreatment.net/blog/social-stress-addiction-connection/

The Gut & Microbiome

Gut microbiota’s effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis (2017) -- published in Clinical Practice.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/

A CU Boulder-led study showing that injecting beneficial bacteria into mice can make them more resilient to stress has been named among the “top 10 advancements and breakthroughs” of 2016 by the nation’s leading non-governmental funder of mental health research.

Now, lead author Christopher Lowry, an associate professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology, is moving forward with clinical trials to see if altering the microbiome, or composition of resident bacteria, in military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder can be beneficial.
http://www.colorado.edu/today/2017/01/05/study-linking-beneficial-bacteria-mental-health-makes-top-10-list-brain-research

Immune System & Mental Health

Mind and body: Scientists identify immune system link to mental illness -- University of Cambridge (2014)

 http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/mind-and-body-scientists-identify-immune-system-link-to-mental-illnes

Groundbreaking study links immune system to mental health (2016) -- University of Sidney and Perth-based Charity Meeting For Minds [M4M], reported on Australian ABC News site.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-27/mental-health-study-a-boon-to-patients-immune-system/7455310

The Brain-Immune -Gut Triangle: Innate Immunity in Psychiatric & Neurological Disorders (2013) -- Oslo University Hospital & University of Debrecen, published in Current Immunology Reviews

https://www.researchgate.net/publication
/261994663_The_Brain-Immune-Gut_Triangle_Innate_Immunity_in_
Psychiatric_and_Neurological_Disorders

Gut Bacteria Drives Auto-Immune Diseases (2018) Yale University --reported in the magazine "Science" and on the website Neuroscience News

http://neurosciencenews.com/gut-bacteria-autoimmune-disease-8614/

I chose this cartoon by Matt Groening in his "Life in Hell" comic strip series as a metaphor for some our approaches in Mental Health.

But the fact is I can also relate to it quite literally. My arms don't straighten completely and as a child I was taken to the Bone Specialist.

The Bone Specialist advised my parents that the medical staff could break my bones and re-set them -- but it probably wasn't worth it -- and advised my parents not to worry about it. My parents thought that was pretty good advice -- and so do I.

Yet there was time when I was working as a Hostess @ a very popular Restaurant, Bar and Music Scene in Oklahoma City and an uncommonly disturbed patron asked me if I couldn't do something about my arms -- it was making it so he couldn't eat and proceeded to tell me what he thought had happened in the womb.

Well when I say "disturbed patron" -- who does he remind of -- my clients -- no -- many aspects of the Criminal Justice System -- YES.

There are things that aren't as innocuous as arms that won't straighten; nonetheless and maybe especially-- we need a strength-based approach.

Social Determinants of Health, Social Stress, the Gut & Microbiome, the Immune System --- & Mental Health

3/13/2018

Our society is in such DENIAL about mental ill health and brain injury among men in the Criminal Justice System.
Further, is it an accident that so many women in the Criminal Justice System have histories of sexual abuse, brain injury or mental illness -- probably not.
Our Society is in such DENIAL about the reality of the people who are finding themselves in the Criminal Justice System, because to acknowledge REALITY would totally upend our Criminal Justice System.
BUT we can still have SAFETY & EVEN HIGHER LEVELS OF SAFETY IF WE ACKNOWLEDGE REALITY.
While there is an ENORMOUS amount of EVIDENCE that we don't have "mental illness" or human behavior completely figured out, there is a growing body of SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that ALL KINDS OF FACTORS affect HUMAN BEHAVIOR and can DAMAGE the IMMUNE SYSTEM leading to impaired cognition and behavior.
Let's concentrate on those factors we are aware of -- & that includes THE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH & the GUT MICROBIOME.

Social Determinants of Mental Health

Social Determinants of Mental Health (2014) -- World Health Organization & Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation

 http://www.who.int/mental_health/publications/gulbenkian_paper_social_determinants_of_mental_health/en/

The Social Determinants of Mental Health: An Overview & A Call To Action (2014)-- in Psychiatric Annals

"Physicians are the natural attorneys of the poor, and social problems fall to a large extent within their jurisdiction."
http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632016000400004

Social Determinants of Health: A Review of the Evidence (2016) --- European Journal of Psychiatry

http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-61632016000400004

Effects of Social Stress on Mental Health

"Social Stress Leads To Changes In Gut Bacteria" -- Georgia State University http://news.gsu.edu/2018/03/08/social-stress-leads-changes-gut-bacteria-study-finds/
Social Stress & Addiction -- from the Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, reported on mentalhealthtreatment.net.

http://mentalhealthtreatment.net/blog/social-stress-addiction-connection/

The Gut & Microbiome

Gut microbiota’s effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis (2017) -- published in Clinical Practice.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/

A CU Boulder-led study showing that injecting beneficial bacteria into mice can make them more resilient to stress has been named among the “top 10 advancements and breakthroughs” of 2016 by the nation’s leading non-governmental funder of mental health research.

Mind and body: Scientists identify immune system link to mental illness -- University of Cambridge (2014)

 http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/mind-and-body-scientists-identify-immune-system-link-to-mental-illnes

Groundbreaking study links immune system to mental health (2016) -- University of Sidney and Perth-based Charity Meeting For Minds [M4M], reported on Australian ABC News site.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-27/mental-health-study-a-boon-to-patients-immune-system/7455310

The Brain-Immune -Gut Triangle: Innate Immunity in Psychiatric & Neurological Disorders (2013) -- Oslo University Hospital & University of Debrecen, published in Current Immunology Reviews

https://www.researchgate.net/publication
/261994663_The_Brain-Immune-Gut_Triangle_Innate_Immunity_in_
Psychiatric_and_Neurological_Disorders

Gut Bacteria Drives Auto-Immune Diseases (2018) Yale University --reported in the magazine "Science" and on the website Neuroscience News

http://neurosciencenews.com/gut-bacteria-autoimmune-disease-8614/

Charlie Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and lyricist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York (2008), which was also well-received; film critic Roger Ebert named it "the best movie of the decade" in 2009 -- Wikipedia

New Science is Amazing & It Has huge moral implications -- Now

Mental Health's Tower of Babel: Science, Clinical Practice, the Criminal Justice System, Politics, and Individuals with "Mental Illness"

2/24/2018

There's A LOT to be said about the current lack of:

logic,
reason, and
coherent, clear and precise definitions

in Mental Health practice and policy.

We are only scratching the surface, but we will be continuing to develop these ideas because it is so important to rational:

Mental Health practice
Legal practice, and
Public Policy discussions and decision-making.

Ultimately, this ISN'T about knowing everything. It's really about:

Honesty
Honesty about what we do know;
Honesty about what we don't know;
& the Honesty to Limit Our Actions accordingly.

WE ARE NOT DOING THAT.

We've got an incoherent mess of systems and we've lulled ourselves into believing it doesn't really matter -- EXCEPT it does matter -- A LOT.

Science: The DSM 5 is not a valid diagnostic tool because it just describes symptoms and does not get to the underlying biology.

Science Up

New Science is Amazing, and it has HUGE Moral Implications for our society -- Now

Clinicians: Rely on the DSM 5 because they largely don't have anything else. This reliance extends to reports and testimony in the Criminal Justice System.

Criminal Justice System: They have their own standards for "insanity" and "incompetent to proceed" that don't mesh well with the DSM 5 much less current scientific knowledge and lack thereof. Of course, those LAWS are largely the result of the political process.

"Even a dog distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked"

Insanity

Politics: The will of the majority, largely concerned with SAFETY. Public policy discussions tend to use BROAD categories like "MENTAL ILLNESS" to discuss extremely complicated issues such as gun control. Clinicians can provide some refinement, but are largely unable to provide the clarity and precision that is needed.

Housing & Service Provision for people with "mental illness" are not provided as required by LAW or as needed, but on the basis of political budgetary calculations that may not be irrational from a SHORT TERM political calculation but are irrational both with respect to the TRUE NEEDS of people with disabilities and the LONG TERM COSTS to the Society. So we have a grossly inadequate supply of:

Housing;
Bed Space;
and Intensive Mental Health Services

Even though our Federal Laws and CMS Oversight Procedures would seem to prevent the ABUSE, NEGLECT and RIGHTS VIOLATIONS of people with disabilities that are rampant in most States and in Colorado -- when we don't follow or adequately enforce the LAWS -- it doesn't prevent the ABUSE, NEGLECT or RIGHTS VIOLATIONS of people with disabilities.

Colorado Abuse & Neglect Scandals

Alicia Keys & 60 Minutes: "Cause Right Now It Don't Make Sense"

Individuals with "Mental Illness": Are probably more acutely aware than most in the society, that "MENTAL ILLNESS" is BOTH a Biological Reality and a Social Construct. Tens of Millions of people with "mental illness" in the US are vulnerable to unfair stigma and refusal of reasonable accommodations. Additionally, over 300,000 people with mental illness are in the US Justice System, and Thousands are in the Colorado Justice System.

The Crisis In Mental Health -- Is At Root A Scary Crisis In Knowledge & Treatment -- In the Meantime We Need To Pay Up --- Wouldn't We Do That for Alzheimer's Patients?

1/9/2018

The worry used to be: "What are we going to do when all those Baby-Boomers get Alzheimer's and hit the Country's Medical System."
Nobody really has seriously entertained doing what our society has done on the Epidemic in Mental Health:

Incarceration
Homelessness
We Just Fund Housing & Mental Health Community Services As We Damn Well Please {as well as bed space]

There are 3 BIG factors in that:

We're generally not afraid of frail, older people even if their behavior is off.
A lot of people still don't believe in "mental illness" -- seeing for Human Beings really is believing. Seeing a frail older person with Alzheimer's is believing -- seeing the wide range of people with "mental illness" can be pretty confusing.
Our professionals haven't had the best handle on "mental illness," even if they have done the best they could -- It's not good enough anymore, and many times it never really was.

Our problems with the Civil Commitment Statutes are really just a reflection of the lack of knowledge in the mental health professional community.

There is nothing wrong with saying you don't know -- in fact, it is often the most ethical thing to do. BUT the mental health profession can't have it both ways -- saying "I don't know" on civil commitment -- and serving as a critical expert in criminal proceedings.

Now one may say, "You're talking apples and oranges." BUT are we? There are serious, large knowledge gaps that the mental health profession by and large doesn't seem to have the awareness, ethics or morality to acknowledge -- AND it's hurting people.

Further, for the States such as Colorado we need to pay for the Housing and Services people with "mental illness" NEED -- not what we DAMN WELL PLEASE. Of course, complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Olmstead Decision, and Parity would be a great move in the right direction -- COLORADO.

SO we need a HUGE AMOUNT in RESOUCES for people with Mental Illness for the States and Colorado to comply with the LAW and common notions of ethics & morality.

BUT one of the things we need to understand is we need all those resources because our knowledge and treatments are so lacking.

We're not saying get rid of all the mental health professionals, BUT we need to recognize that the primary research model for Mental Health is the Immune-Gut-Brain Triad -- & mental health disorders are more and more being recognized as immune disorders [See our button on New Science is Amazing & It Has HUGE Moral Implications NOW!].

Mental health professionals need to be trained in immunology as well--- at least on some level. AND there needs to be greater and more expert evaluation of people with "mental illness" from the perspective of immunology.

We have often said we did not get into this horrific multiple system mental health mess because of one factor -- there are a lot of factors.

BUT the more we know what we are doing with regard to the treatment of "mental illness" --- the more it is going to help.

"Too Dangerous To Treat": Is there a CO Mental Health Center Refusing To Treat BUT NOT Seeking Certification of Some Patients?

[Blog Above: Contains Reference to CRS CRS 27-65-106(1) --- Court Ordered Evaluations with Persons with Mental Health Disorders]

Is It Time To Re-Think "Imminent Danger" on 72-Hour Hold Emergency Procedures

New Science is Amazing & It Has Huge Moral Implications Now!

UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology
(Most Colorado Mental Health Centers are probably recommending things like Tai Chi, Yoga, and Mindfulness.)

We're all for that -- and we're also about kicking it up a few notches in Rigor & Integrating the Latest Research-- something we think CO Mental Health Centers could do in collaboration with the Univ. of CO & the CU Behavior Health Innovation Center.

Mental Health & the Immune System

1/8/2018

Like a lot people with mental health concerns, I also have more recognized auto-immune concerns, specifically thyroid concerns.
I was interested to see in the list of articles that "osteoporosis" is now being considered for possible inclusion as as an auto-immune disease.
Like a lot of older, short women -- I have issues with that, too.
So if one has had the experience of one's cognitive functions essentially breaking down -- and I hope you never do -- it's clear to those around you and ultimately to yourself that something is going on -- but what that something is -- isn't very clear.
So we just give it our best guess. Our guesses have been getting better -- BUT still . . . they can miss the mark rather dramatically.
AND that is really the spark or the raging wildfire for the anti-psychiatry movement.
I really do believe in science. AND I think the answer for inadequate science is better science -- and listening to people.
Our mental health system costs a helluva lot for a lot of reasons, one of those is that it is just not based on the lastest science or the best treatments for what is essentially in many cases an immune disorder.

See Also:

The Telegraph (UK)

“You can’t separate the mind from the body,” said Prof Sir Robert Lechler, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

“The immune system does produce behaviour. You’re not just a little bit miserable if you’ve got a long term condition, there is a real mechanistic connection between the mind, the nervous system and the immune system.

“Our model of healthcare is outdated.

"We have a separation. Mental healthcare is delivered by mental health professionals, psychiatrists, mental health nurses and so on, often in separate premises from where physical health care is delivered and that is simply wrong and we need to find ways to ever more closely integrate and train amphibious healthcare professionals who can straddle this divide.”

"Research has also shown that people who have suffered severe emotional trauma in their past have inflammatory markers in their body, suggesting their immune system is constantly firing, as if always on guard against abuse."
. . .

One promising treatment for depression on the horizon is the use of electrical stimulation to change the signals between the brain and the immune system.

Prof Kevin Tracey, President and CEO, of the US Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, discovered that the brain controls production of a deadly inflammatory chemical called TNF, which if released in high doses can be fatal, causing people to, literally, die of shock.

He has recently developed a electrical device which reproduces the connection and switches off the chemical. Three quarters of patients with rheumatoid arthritis recovered following trials.

“This is the tip of the iceberg of a new field called bio-electric medicine,” he said.

“This is a new way of thinking about medicine. We’re using electrons to replace drugs. This will not replace all drugs. But there will be many drugs that are either too expensive, too toxic which may be replaced by these devices.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/
2017/09/08/depression-physical-
illness-could-treated-anti-inflammatory/

New Science Is Amazing & It Has Huge Moral Implications NOW!

Search Terms on PubMed: Mental Health and the Immune System

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Select item 292926111.[SERUM CYTOKINE CONCENTRATIONS ASSOCIATION WITH THE SEVERITY OF SYMPTOMS IN MAJOR DEPRESSION].
Madi Y, Yogev A, Bar-Gad M, Amital H, Barak V, Amital D.
Harefuah. 2017 Dec;156(12):753-756. Hebrew.

PMID:

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Sosa-Reina MD, Nunez-Nagy S, Gallego-Izquierdo T, Pecos-Martín D, Monserrat J, Álvarez-Mon M.
Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:2356346. doi: 10.1155/2017/2356346. Epub 2017 Sep 20. Review.

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Select item 292767344.Stress & the gut-brain axis: Regulation by the microbiome.
Foster JA, Rinaman L, Cryan JF.
Neurobiol Stress. 2017 Mar 19;7:124-136. doi: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2017.03.001. eCollection 2017 Dec. Review.

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Duan L, Wei L, Tian Y, Zhang Z, Hu P, Wei Q, Liu S, Zhang J, Wang Y, Li D, Yang W, Zong R, Xian P, Han C, Bao X, Zhao F, Feng J, Liu W, Cao W, Zhou G, Zhu C, Yu F, Yang W, Meng Y, Wang J, Chen X, Wang Y, Shen B, Zhao B, Wan J, Zhang F, Zhao G, Xu A, Zhang X, Liu J, Zuo X, Wang K.
Stroke. 2018 Jan;49(1):11-18. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.117.017430.

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Ullah H, Liu G, Yousaf B, Ali MU, Abbas Q, Munir MAM, Mian MM.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2018 Mar;149:291-306. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2017.11.056. Epub 2017 Dec 18. Review.

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Select item 292163837.Genetic Susceptibility to Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome after Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli (STEC) Infection: a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) FoodNet Study.
Kallianpur AR, Bradford Y, Mody RK, Garman KN, Comstock N, Lathrop SL, Lyons C, Saupe A, Wymore K, Canter JA, Olson LM, Palmer A, Jones TF.
J Infect Dis. 2017 Dec 6. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jix633. [Epub ahead of print]

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Select item 292132718.Visceral Inflammation and Immune Activation Stress the Brain.
Holzer P, Farzi A, Hassan AM, Zenz G, Jačan A, Reichmann F.
Front Immunol. 2017 Nov 22;8:1613. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.01613. eCollection 2017. Review.

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Select item 292010459.Functional Bowel Disorders Are Associated with a Central Immune Activation.
Farup PG, Ueland T, Rudi K, Lydersen S, Hestad K.
Gastroenterol Res Pract. 2017;2017:1642912. doi: 10.1155/2017/1642912. Epub 2017 Oct 23.

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Select item 2915016610.Exercise and mental health.
Mikkelsen K, Stojanovska L, Polenakovic M, Bosevski M, Apostolopoulos V.
Maturitas. 2017 Dec;106:48-56. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2017.09.003. Epub 2017 Sep 7. Review.

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Select item 2914149111.Association of psychosis, affective disorders and diseases affecting the immune system.
Larsen JB, Iversen VC, Reitan SK.
Nord J Psychiatry. 2017 Nov 16:1-5. doi: 10.1080/08039488.2017.1402952. [Epub ahead of print]

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Select item 2914112512.Elevated Proinflammatory Markers in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Are Associated With Psychosis and Cognitive Deficits.
Mekori-Domachevsky E, Taler M, Shoenfeld Y, Gurevich M, Sonis P, Weisman O, Weizman A, Gothelf D.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2017 Nov 14. pii: 16m11207. doi: 10.4088/JCP.16m11207. [Epub ahead of print]

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Select item 2912408213.Is osteoporosis an autoimmune mediated disorder?
Iseme RA, Mcevoy M, Kelly B, Agnew L, Walker FR, Attia J.
Bone Rep. 2017 Oct 16;7:121-131. doi: 10.1016/j.bonr.2017.10.003. eCollection 2017 Dec. Review.

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Select item 2912297214.Eating Disorders, Autoimmune, and Autoinflammatory Disease.
Zerwas S, Larsen JT, Petersen L, Thornton LM, Quaranta M, Koch SV, Pisetsky D, Mortensen PB, Bulik CM.
Pediatrics. 2017 Dec;140(6). pii: e20162089. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-2089. Epub 2017 Nov 9.

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Select item 2908784615.The Role of Inflammation in Late-Life Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Miller K, Driscoll D, Smith LM, Ramaswamy S.
Mil Med. 2017 Nov;182(11):e1815-e1818. doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-17-00073.

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Select item 2907435616.Anti gliadin antibodies (AGA IgG) related to peripheral inflammation in schizophrenia.
Kelly DL, Demyanovich HK, Eaton WW, Cascella N, Jackson J, Fasano A, Carpenter WT.
Brain Behav Immun. 2017 Oct 23. pii: S0889-1591(17)30476-2. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2017.10.020. [Epub ahead of print]

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Select item 2907218717.Substance abuse and cancer.
Moussas GI, Papadopoulou AG.
Psychiatriki. 2017 Jul-Sep;28(3):234-241. doi: 10.22365/jpsych.2017.283.234.

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Select item 2905746718.Vortioxetine exerts anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects on human monocytes/macrophages.
Talmon M, Rossi S, Pastore A, Cattaneo CI, Brunelleschi S, Fresu LG.
Br J Pharmacol. 2018 Jan;175(1):113-124. doi: 10.1111/bph.14074. Epub 2017 Nov 28.

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Select item 2905312619.[Effect of cytokine genes and season of birth on personality].
Alfimova MV, Golimbet VE, Korovaitseva GI, Lezheiko TV, Kondrat'ev NV, Gabaeva MV.
Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2017;117(9):82-87. doi: 10.17116/jnevro20171179182-87. Russian.

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Select item 2903876720.Evaluation of plasma cytokines in patients with cocaine use disorders in abstinence identifies transforming growth factor alpha (TGFα) as a potential biomarker of consumption and dual diagnosis.
Maza-Quiroga R, García-Marchena N, Romero-Sanchiz P, Barrios V, Pedraz M, Serrano A, Nogueira-Arjona R, Ruiz JJ, Soria M, Campos R, Chowen JA, Argente J, Torrens M, López-Gallardo M, Marco EM, Rodríguez de Fonseca F, Pavón FJ, Araos P.
PeerJ. 2017 Oct 12;5:e3926. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3926. eCollection 2017.

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