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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & R.E.D. --- Living it --- But Different than we thought

1/27/2026

Val's Take: For those who are regular visitors to Orchid, you know that there are certain videos I play often --- really as great works of art --- and there is so much to be mined from them.

"R.E.D." is one of those videos. The characters in the video are LIVING IT, they are a PART OF IT --- they are NOT OUTSIDE IT.

There's a certain principle of "LEAST EFFORT" --- "IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT" --- people AROUND THE WORLD are not spending all this TIME, ENERGY and TREASURE on NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL and PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS because we had perfect understandings.

Are the new understandings of Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders as Neuro-Immune Disorders ---perfect --- NO, are they BETTER ---

YES.

One of things that Thomas Insel, former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said over a decade ago -- while picking up one of his many awards --- was that we were in a TIME OF DISCOVERY.

Further, Insel advised that we don't know where we will be in a decade and it would probably be more EXTRAORDINARY than anything we could imagine ---- and we want to be open to that.

Well, it is more than a decade on from those statements from Insel --- and things look very different.

Five big takeaways:

The DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS OF HEALTH & DISEASE
The importance of the IMMUNE SYSTEM in not only COMMUNICABLE DISEASES, but also NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES and DISORDERS
This is affecting a lot of people in this Society.
"PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS" are components of many if not most CHRONIC DISEASES, including Auto-Immune Diseases, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer and Neuro-Degenerative Disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
ATYPICAL IMMUNE RESPONSES are a sign of DYSREGULATION

Trailer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Halluci Nation
R.E.D. (2016)

We're getting those BIO-MARKERS --- it will be a REVELATION to some and a CONFIRMATION for others.

Finally, this has a DUAL ASPECT as a POPULATION PROBLEM and of INDIVIDUALS --- requiring PERSONALIZED MEDICINE to address complicated and idiosyncratic DYSREGULATIONS and often PREMATURE AGING of the IMMUNE SYSTEM.

NO ONE WANTS A LOBOTOMY and NO ONE WANTS TO BE IN ILL HEALTH EITHER.

Steve McQueen, Sheryl Crow and The UNSCONSCIONABLE REALITY of Researchers far ahead of clinicians, Patients, family members, Policymakers and the Public

1/21/2026

The Science is now far ahead of what it was in 2019 (see the editorial to the right) -- but the road to getting these new understandings to Clinicians, Individuals, Family Members and the Public in general seems bogged down by inadequate or primitive forms of TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE.

Like STEVE McQUEEN (or SHERYL CROW) those researchers raced ahead, and most of our clinicians are far behind.

Part of this mess is that we don't have the same standards of proof or burden for DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES.

So researchers might think --- when we get this all figured out --- we'll let you know.

BUT we are already at LEGALLY RELEVANT INFORMATION -- but it is not held by the people most attorneys are going to tap as EXPERTS --- the CLINICIANS.

It's pretty hard to say most clinicians or forensic evaluators are operating below THE STANDARD OF CARE --- but that STARDARD CARE is far behind the research.

The RESEARCHERS, CLINICIANS and the SOCIETY might very well say --- we don't want to do anything PREMATURELY.

Which is fine as far as it goes --- BUT these new understandings are raising all kinds of REASONABLE DOUBTS with regard to our policies in:

CRIMINAL JUSTICE,
HOMELESSNESS
MENTAL HEALTH and
HEALTH CARE generally

Now, I think it's possible to THREAD THAT NEEDLE but we can't do it by ignoring those REASONABLE DOUBTS or IGNORANCE by EXHAUSTION.

Clinicians got left in the dust along with Individuals, Family Members, Policymakers and the Public in general.

How Many Clinicians have had the SUPPORT to Incorporate the recommendations in the March 29, 2019 Editorial in Frontiers in Psychiatry?

Editorial: Recent Advances in Psychiatry From Psycho-Neuro-Immunology Research:

Autoimmune Encephalitis, Autoimmune Encephalopathy, and Mild Encephalitis

Burden of Proof

When people complain to me of the "Medical Model" --- I often say --- What Medical Model --- It's SHAM Medical Model at best

Is the mental health profession too far behind the research to practice?

1/15/2026

Val's Take: The Mental Health Profession is NOT going to be able to transcend its HUGE LIMITATIONS without HUGE SUPPORT that is TARGETED and can address HUGE BLIND SPOTS, involving:

The DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF HEALTH & DISEASE
The IMMUNE SYSTEM,

The ENDOCRINE SYSTEM,
METABOLISM,
The MICROBIOME,
Etc.

Psychiatric, Neurological, and Somatic Comorbidities in Intermittent Explosive Disorder (2026)

Affiliations

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Norton College of Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.
Department of Family Medicine, Norton College of Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.
Ross University School of Medicine, Miramar, Florida.
Clinical Psychology Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Norton College of Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.
Institute for Human Performance, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Norton College of Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.

Even if you don't trust AI, just search PUBMED.

BUT Mental Health Professionals cannot perpetually stay a decade or more behind the research and expect to be paid for EXPERTISE they don't have.

<<<<<<

Conclusion and relevance: These findings highlight the extensive comorbidities between IED [Intermittent Explosive Disorder] and psychiatric, neurological, and somatic disorders, emphasizing the need for integrated diagnostic and treatment approaches addressing both psychological and physical health aspects of IED.

Limitations related to reliance on medical records and low diagnostic rates of IED caution the generalizability of these findings, underscoring the need for further validation in prospective studies and more accurate, inclusive diagnosis of IED in patients with mental disorders

How many people has CMHIP sent back to the court with an "ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER DIAGNOSIS" who had a condition or conditions that was much more complicated than that?

On the one hand this is about NEW RESEARCH, INSIGHTS & UNDERSTANDINGS ---- but it is also about a FAILURE OF REASONING in which mental health professionals write off their failures as:

Lack of Motivation on the part of the person (Most of these people with Neuro-Developmental & Psychiatric Disorders have SIGNIFICANT MITOCHONDRIAL DYSFUNCTION----
Even if one didn't know the cause, just assuming lack of motivation seems insanely stupid
- BUT that's with the benefit of hindsight
Also, this idea that is less prevalent than it was but is still out there ---- "If the medication doesn't work, they must not have a psychiatric disorder."
- I mean how do you get that stupid?
- You get that stupid by thinking you know it all and when your actual knowledge base is much less than you think.
- That is going to be a significant problem for pretty much anyone.
- We can't have these harsh punishments and judgments --- but we have to have SAFETY --- and that is not always easily correlated to the HIERARCHY
  - and those relationships that do exist are not necessarily what we think.

Mental Health's unconscionable gap between research and practice

1/11/2026

Three Big Points:
1. The Delay in Translational Medicine is a Legitimate Issue.
2. Mental Health Patients put up with a lot more than most patients would.
3. MORE Efforts are needed to bridge the gap between Research & Practice.

UK Academic Health Science Partners

University of Bristol ---Immunopsychiatry Research Group

Oxford University --- Immuno-Metabolism & Severe Mental Illness Group

Menninger Clinic Mindscape
John Oldham, Chief of Staff, interviews
Peter Fonagy, Ph.D
University College London

Delivery of Mental Healthcare in the U.K. (2013)

Transitional/ Translational Justice Monday

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & R.E.D. --- Living it --- But Different than we thought

Steve McQueen, Sheryl Crow and The UNSCONSCIONABLE REALITY of Researchers far ahead of clinicians, Patients, family members, Policymakers and the Public

Is the mental health profession too far behind the research to practice?

Mental Health's unconscionable gap between research and practice

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