Blog Posts

Immunologic Dysfunction and Psychiatric Disorders

4/25/2022

Prenatal Exposure Proinflammatory Cytokines Risk ...https://advances.massgeneral.org › neuro › journal

Nov 22, 2021 -- Jill M. Goldstein, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry, ... Cytokines May Increase Risk of Psychiatric Disorders by Sex 45 years later in ...
Glial Cells and Pro-inflammatory Cytokines as Shared ...https://oxfordmedicine.com › view › med › med-97801...

Many cytokines have been implicated in both pain and psychiatric disorders, including interleukin-1β‎ (IL-1β‎), tumor necrosis factor-α‎, and IL-6. More ...
Cytokines as Biomarkers in Psychiatric Disorders - SpringerLink https://link.springer.com › chapter

by O Khalfallah · 2021 -- Previous studies have shown that most severe mental disorders are associated with altered blood levels of cytokines, a group of small soluble ...
Inflammation Subtypes and Translating Inflammation-Related ...https://journals.lww.com › hrpjournal › Fulltext › Inflam...

Separately, disease-risk genetic studies of psychotic disorders have identified ... in many peripheral cytokines between psychiatric patients and controls.

by B Dawidowski · 2021 Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness of unknown etiology. A growing and compelling body of evidence implicates immunologic dysfunction as the key ...

The Role of Cytokines in the Pathogenesis of Schizophrenia

by N Groven · 2018 Association between cytokines and psychiatric symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy controls

SUSTAINABILITY ---Human Limits and Hyper-Connected, Hyper-Plastic Brains

4/12/2022

When we think about SUSTAINABILITY -- we tend to think about CLIMATE --- BUT we need to start thinking about HUMAN BEINGS.

In recent years, we have become quite enamored with the idea of BRAIN PLASTICITY.
- It is fascinating and there probably is A LOT that will be gained from better understanding BRAIN PLASTICITY.

One of the first places we might want to start is Neuro-Developmental Differences / Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders.

We might think --- "Oh, people with these differences and/or disorders --- have LITTLE BRAIN PLASTICITY."

BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE.

In fact, the OPPOSITE is often the case.

People with Neuro-Developmental Differences / Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders tend to have "HYPER-CONNECTED BRAINS" and greater PLASTICITY.

Having an ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING of BRAIN PLASTICITY is going to be IMPORTANT for the "TREATMENT" of Neuro-Developmental Differences / Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders.

Understanding BOTH COMMON & IDIOSYNCRATIC DIFFERENCES among NEURO-DIVERSE PEOPLE---- especially when it comes to:

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING
SENSORY PROCESSING and
EMOTIONAL OVERWHELM

and TRANSLATING a NEURO-TYPICAL APPROACH to someone who is:

NEURO-DIVERSE
Likely already has a HYPER-CONNECTED BRAIN
and can often be CLOSE TO THEIR LIMITS ---

THIS IS CRITICAL.

I'm not saying that we can't use BRAIN PLASTICITY for the benefit of people with Neuro-Developmental Differences/ Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders:

BUT we need to respect their/my "BOUNDARIES"
We need to include them/me even more as "PARTNERS" in "TREATMENT," Family and Community Life.

This is NOT just for Mental Health Professionals --- This is for all of us -- Individuals, Families, Communities and Institutions.

Neuro-Diversity has so much to offer the world --- Neuro-Diverse people are primarily who we study in school --- BUT if we want a SOCIETY that can adequately handle the SCALE of Neuro-Diversity in the Population ---We need to address Neuro-Diversity MORE CONSCIOUSLY ---- There are some BIG STRENGTHS, there are also some BIG LIMITS.

Future Learn

The Limits of Neuroplasticity | Discover Magazine https://www.discovermagazine.com › health › the-limits... Nov 13, 2010 — If the brain were infinitely plastic, brain damage would be no big deal. You'd get over it pretty quickly, so long as some of your brain was ...

Neuroplasticity: How Experience Changes the Brain https://www.verywellmind.com › what-is-brain-plasticit...

Feb 18, 2022 — Brain Plasticity Also Has Limitations ... It is important to note, however, that the brain is not infinitely malleable. Certain areas of the brain ...

New Scientist ------ Maxxed Out: Testing Humans to Destruction

Attachment Styles Viewed Through Biological Drivers of Sensory Overload and Anxiety

3/31/2022

Attachment Styles are often viewed through the lens of some kind of childhood trauma.

I'm not saying that is invalid --- BUT I am saying I think the challenges of various NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS do make relationships hard for NEURO-DIVERSE people --- who tend to be people with a lot of SENSORY OVERLOAD and ANXIETY.

Conclusion: Difficulty in emotion regulation and insecure-avoidant attachment styles were more common in untreated adolescents with ADHD.

The study findings support the view that ADHD is a heterogeneous condition and that insecure attachment style and emotional regulation should be considered in the assessment and treatment of ADHD

Emotional regulation and attachment style in previously untreated adolescents with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder

In Pop Psychology, "ATTACHED" to this "IDEA" of "ATTACHMENT STYLES" is this notion that "Oh, you're just overlooking and rejecting perfectly 'WARM' partners and everything would be 'GREAT' if you could just 'LOOSEN UP' and 'RELAX.' "

When we talk about COMPATIBILITY --- we're often talking about some kind of SHARED INTEREST.

Two of the things that Youtuber Paul points out on his channel Asperger's from the Inside:

You tend NOT to have the same interests as other people, and
There is a lot of "INVISIBLE STRUGGLE" ---- Paul likens it to a DUCK PADDLING UNDER WATER --- you can't see it --- BUT there is A LOT going on UNDERNEATH THE SURFACE.

I think one of the reasons NEURO-DIVERSE people don't have the same interests is because at least some of them have been seeking out a lot of KNOWLEDGE and DISCIPLINES such as MUSIC, SCIENCE, HISTORY, ART, etc.

--- to CALM some pretty CONSTANT ANXIETY ---that may be the result of some pretty CONSTANT SENSORY OVERLOAD.

So if you do manage to find your "INTELLECTUAL MATCH" ------ you've often also met your MATCH in SENSORY OVERLOAD and ANXIETY.

There's a reason why Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah is so popular and unfortunately where a lot of NEURO-DIVERSE people find themselves in relationships.

In one of the videos I posted on DYSLEXIA and ADHD --- the psychologist makes the CRUCIAL POINT that AWARNESS is KEY --- AWARENESS makes things "BETTER ALREADY."

With regard to AWARENESS --- Neuro-Diverse people are at significantly increased risk of PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS.

I think if Mental Health Professionals are MORE AWARE that some to many of their clients are:

NEURO-DIVERSE,
They are pretty close to their LIMITS ALL THE TIME --- because their brains are so HYPER-CONNECTED
This is being CONTINUALLY FUELED by SENSORY PROCESSING challenges that are also fueling a lot of ANXIETY
This is impacting every area of their lives --- certainly WORK and LOVE.

That's going to lead to greater AWARENESS in their patients --- it's not going to be perfect BUT it could be "BETTER ALREADY."

Steph Anya, LMFT explains "Attachment Styles"

Leonard Cohen --- Hallelujah

Understood: Thriving with Learning Differences

AWARENESS IS KEY.

Asperger's from the Inside
High Functioning Autism --- It's NOT what you think

Lex Morningstar
What Happened to the Lost Generation of Women with Undiagnosed ADHD?

I can tell you from my perspective --- IT WASN'T GOOD.

A lot of people --- certainly older people who may have done well in school --- did NOT get that diagnosis of a DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER because organizational issues, etc. were fairly well MASKED.

Further, they may very well have married someone in a similar situation.

When it comes to Neuro-Diversity --- If all you know is the GOOD STUFF --- YOU DON'T KNOW ENOUGH.

If all you know is the BAD STUFF --- YOU DON'T KNOW ENOUGH.

AWARENESS IS KEY --- and it MIGHT improve those ATTACHMENT STYLES.

When are we going to make the reforms necessary due to an invalid dsm 5?

3/29/2022

We're now about 9 years out from when Science 2.0 website announced that Dr. Thomas Insel then Director of NIMH gave the DSM 5 a "KILL SHOT" -----

It may be slow acting --- BUT it is slowly making its way through the System(s).

When you have SYSTEMS that are SO DEPENDENT on a particular WAY OF THINKING and that WAY OF THINKING is GREATLY CALLED INTO QUESTION---

Understanding there is a problem is just the FIRST STEP.

I think the problems associated with the DSM will ultimately be recognized right up there with the Copernican Revolution and Darwinian Evolution.

BUT both the Copernican Revolution and Darwinian Evolution went to RELIGION --- the PROBLEMS with the DSM are going to EMPIRICAL SCIENCE and its LIMITS---- especially if DIVORCED from:

REASON, and
HIGHER ORDER MORAL and ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

----Once you get RDOC (the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria Program)--- figured out --- we will start MODIFYING --- is not only NOT GOOD ENOUGH --- it's RIDICULOUS when it is not HORRIFIC.

May 3, 2013

By Hank Campbell

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is distancing itself from the the American Psychiatric Association and its upcoming Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

While they acknowledge that the goal of DSM "is to provide a common language for describing psychopathology" they are no longer convinced that approach has value if we are going to solve 21st century cognitive science problems.

It is, paraphrasing the statement of Thomas R. Insel, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, more of a dictionary than a manual. He uses the term "Bible" instead of 'manual' but I would have used 'glossary' rather than 'dictionary'.

Insel pulls no punches in his statement on why they are not going to fund things based on DSM criteria any more.

"The weakness is its lack of validity. Unlike our definitions of ischemic heart disease, lymphoma, or AIDS, the DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure."

This is a charge leveled at psychology as well, and the field in general, but psychiatry takes the biggest hits, because they are supposed to be the most evidence-based. Unlike psychology, psychiatrists have to be M.D.s first.

Writing in The New Yorker, Gary Greenberg tries to tackle why cognitive science hasn't kept pace with medicine, much less the physical and life and earth sciences, writing rather nicely that "it’s not entirely clear that psychiatrists want a solution to the problem."

Insel is more blunt. "DSM diagnoses are based on a consensus about clusters of clinical symptoms, not any objective laboratory measure. In the rest of medicine, this would be equivalent to creating diagnostic systems based on the nature of chest pain or the quality of fever."

Basically, he says DSM is stuck in the past.

Indeed, symptom-based diagnosis, once common in other areas of medicine, has been largely replaced in the past half century as we have understood that symptoms alone rarely indicate the best choice of treatment.

Patients with mental disorders deserve better.

NIMH is leaving the past behind. In the past, Insel notes, they would reject a biomarker that did not match a DSM category. Now they instead want to collect how all data - genetic, imaging, physiologic and cognitive - cluster, and not just how symptoms do. They call it the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project.

"That is why NIMH will be re-orienting its research away from DSM categories.," he wrote, and that means funding applicants are going to have to adjust to the 21st century.

The APA may be outraged, and certainly some DSM-5 defenders, but I predict people in cognitive science who want to really do science and get NIMH funding are relieved that they are not going to have to cater to a document everyone seems to know was always flawed.

Read Insel's whole statement, Transforming Diagnosis, and have hope for the future.
Science 2.0

Hyper-Connected Brains --- What Does That Mean? And Why Can It Be Both A Blessing & A Curse?

3/24/2022

Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

"Hyper-connectivity and hyper-plasticity in the prefrontal cortex implies hyper-functionality of one of the highest order processing regions in the brain, and stands in contrast to the hypo-functionality that is normally proposed in this region to explain some of the autistic symptoms.

"We propose that a number of deficits in autism such as sociability, attention, multi-tasking and repetitive behaviours, should be re-interpreted in the light of a hyper-functional prefrontal cortex."

Hyper-connectivity and hyper-plasticity in the medial prefrontal cortex in the valproic acid animal model of autism (2008)

-------Frontiers in Neural Circuits

1 Brain Mind Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
2 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Medical Daily:
Kids with Autism have Hyperconnected Brains (2013)

BUT HYPER-CONNECTIVITY IS NOT JUST ASSOCIATED with AUTISM

it is associated with Depression
it is associated with Schizophrenia
it is associated with ADHD
it is associated with Bipolar Disorder
it is associated with Dyslexia
Etc.

https://www.frontiersin.org › articles

by F Morken · 2014 · Cited by 23 — Overall, the dyslexia group showed cortical hyperactivation ... group differences in brain areas associated with language processing as well ..

University of Pavia, Italy

hyper-connectivity between caudate and salience regions in ADHD fMRI at rest
...https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › ...

by S Damiani · 2021 · Cited by 12 — Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) comprises disturbances in attention, emotional regulation, and reward-related processes.

Further, this HYPER-CONNECTIVITY appears to be related in some ways to EPIGENETICS and INCREASED HUMAN VULNERABILITY to NEURO-PSYCHIATRIC DISEASES.

Georgia Institute of Technology

"Therefore, recent epigenetic evolution of human cortex has shaped the cellular regulatory landscape and contributed to the increased vulnerability to neuropsychiatric diseases."

Evolution of DNA methylation in the human brain (2021)

Pitzer College

"Specifically, those with a high intellectual capacity (hyper brain) possess overexcitabilities in various domains that may predispose them to certain psychological disorders as well as physiological conditions involving elevated sensory, and altered immune and inflammatory responses (hyper body)."

High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and ...

Department of Psychology, Pitzer College, , Claremont, CA USA
Department of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Seattle Pacific University, USA
Department of Research, Awesome Neuroscience, USA
Department of Psychology, Pitzer College, USA

Academic Medicine as the BRIDGE Between Research and the Clinician as well as the PUBLIC

3/17/2022

A lot of what we are about in the 21st Century is INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE.

The more the RESEARCHERS DISCOVER ---- the more that has to be INTEGRATED with EXISTING KNOWLEDGE.
Traditionally, this has been a BIG ROLE of HIGHER EDUCATION.

One of the reasons we now have this HUGE DISCONNECT between RESEARCHERS and Mental Health Clinicians is we have NOT appreciated the COMPLEXITY and DIFFICULTY of integrating new understandings that absolutely are going to:

the brain, BUT are also going to
the IMMUNE SYSTEM
the MICROBIOME
METABOLISM, and
the Endocrine System

Like a lot in LIFE --- there's NO MAGIC WAND --- there's a lot of HARD WORK.

Now once we get "it" FIGURED OUT --- it's easy --- "OF COURSE"
BUT prior to that "it" is NOT SO EASY and NOT SO OBVIOUS.

IT takes TIME, ENERGY and MONEY to INTEGRATE NEW UNDERSTANDINGS and we need MESSENGERS people will TRUST --- and UNIVERSITIES help to provide that.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) --- Scarecrow Gets A Brain

Based on the book by Frank Baum -- The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and the subsequent series.

Psychiatry & the Criminal Justice System: Simplicity on the Near Side of Complexity

Epigenetics and Neuro-Developmental, Psychiatric Disorders & Auto-Immune Disorders

2/23/2022

So when we think about what are CAUSING NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL, PSYCHIATRIC & AUTO-IMMUNE DISORDERS, the primary RESEARCH UNDERSTANDING which hasn't quite made it to CLINICIANS are:

Genetics --- BUT many genes are SHARED across "disorders."
Epigenetics
Environment

Further, many people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS also have some form of AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASE with Thyroid Disorders being the "Tallest Tree in the Forest of POLY AUTO-IMMUNITY."

Further, many AUTO-IMMUNE diseases bring with them PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS.

When we think about this from a PUBLIC HEALTH perspective, it's often EPIGENETICS and ENVIRONMENT that are powering our explosion of NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL, PSYCHIATRIC and AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASES.

Further, we do seem to be becoming MORE SENSITIVE to OUR ENVIRONMENTS ----

More allergies, more food sensitivities --- that are in greater numbers than even a generation ago.
BUT we also seem to be more "EMOTIONALLY SENSITIVE" in more ways that are NOT just about getting better COPING SKILLS ---
- although everybody's doing what they can & probably should--- this "seems" more complicated than that.
- Further, while SOCIAL MEDIA may be part of the problem --- it's not clear its SUFFICIENT to explain everything -- especially when we start taking into account the EPIGENETICS of these disorders.

Epigenetic Mechanisms in Psychiatric Disorders --- Major Depression, Psychosis, Addiction (2021)

University of Maryland

Scientists Discover That Mating Can Cause Epigenetic Changes That Last for 300 Generations (2021)

We can't make the horrific errors that the 20th Century made with Eugenics & Genocide BUT we can't keep failing to appreciate the MAGNITUDE of the PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS that widespread:

Neuro-Developmental Disorders
Psychiatric Disorders, and
Auto-Immune Diseases represent

This is A LOT MORE than 1 person getting his, her, their Sh** Together.

University of British Columbia at Vancouver

Disruptions of genes that are involved in epigenetic functions are known to be causative for several mental retardation/intellectual disability (MR/ID) syndromes.

Recent work has highlighted genes with epigenetic functions as being implicated in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and schizophrenia (SCZ).

Epigenetic Impacts on Neurodevelopment: Pathophysiological ...

Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia

Epigenetic Regulations in Neuropsychiatric Disorders - Frontiers https://www.frontiersin.org › articles

by JN Kuehner · 2019 · — In the mammalian CNS, epigenetic dysregulation is associated with neuropsychiatric diseases such as major depressive disorder (MDD), ...
‎
Abstract · ‎Regulatory RNA · ‎Major Depressive Disorder · ‎Autism Spectrum Disorders

Altered immune phenotype and DNA methylation in panic disorder (2020)

Chapter 25 - Epigenetics of Autoimmune Diseases (2020)

Although strong genetic bases have been found by genome-wide association studies, no unique genetic mechanism underlying immune tolerance breakdown was identified in autoimmune diseases.

The largely incomplete concordance rates of autoimmune diseases in monozygotic twins strongly support other complementary mechanisms involved in gene regulation ultimately causing overt autoimmunity, and it is becoming increasingly evident that epigenetic deregulation contributes to the emergence and/or the progression of disorders that include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic sclerosis, Sjögren’s syndrome, vasculitis, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?:

Auto-Immune Diseases, very much like Neuro-Developmental Disorders or Psychiatric Disorders were both:
- believed to be at one time "psycho-somatic" --- ALL IN YOUR HEAD
- they are not totally genetic
MS often has psychiatric symptoms as well and it is being more and more related to the Epstein-Barr Virus.
Neuro-Developmental Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders are more and more related to MATERNAL IMMUNE ACTIVATION.

Inflammation: The Modern Equivalent of Learning to Control FIRE

2/9/2022

Inflammation is so confusing --- its like a BABY crying --- that baby maybe crying for the usual reasons:
- hungry
- tired
- needs a diaper change, BUT
- it could be something else

To me, inflammation is like that baby crying ---- maybe there are different types of cries and different types of inflammation --- but it's this kind of UNIVERSAL SIGNAL that something is needing to be addressed.

In some ways, that CRYING BABY is more IMMEDIATE and EASIER to UNDERSTAND.

INFLAMMATION can not only build up over a period of years in a SINGLE LIFETIME --- it can build up over GENERATIONS.

One of the things that has made it HARD to UNDERSTAND is that we have IDEAS that there is a STRICT SEPARATION between our SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS, PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS and our BIOLOGY
- So we've SEPARATED THINGS OUT to UNDERSTAND them.
- We haven't really understood the MAGNITUDE of INFLAMMATION because to do that we would have to INTEGRATE an ENORMOUS AMOUNT of KNOWLEDGE from areas and expertise we consider DISTINCT and SEPARATE.

So when we talk about PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS that involve the BRAIN, but other SYSTEMS of the BODY as well, including the IMMUNE SYSTEM --- there are a lot of things that can damage the BRAIN's IMMUNE SYSTEM:
- Maternal Immune Activation
- Trauma
- Intergenerational Trauma
- Infections
- Toxins
- Not getting enough oxygen
- COVID
- Genes that go to the Immune System and Epigenetics
- etc.

Human beings aren't necessarily just contending with 1 of those things -- but multiple factors that are playing out in INDIVIDUAL and IDIOSYNCRATIC ways.

We've started the PROCESS of UNDERSTANDING the role of DEVELOPMENTAL INFLAMMATION in many people with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS and the role of EPIGENETICS.

So this is MORE COMPLICATED than we're treating it in our HEALTHCARE PROFESSION and in our PUBLIC POLICY.

"First Do NO Harm" --- is easy to say --- but it has proven hard to put into practice when multiple systems of the body are DYSREGULATED --- we're kinda just figuring that out ---- and we're at the beginning stages of IDENTIFYING BIOMARKERS.

The Society is looking to the MEDICAL PROFESSION and the HEALTHCARE PROFESSION to help NAVIGATE what can be a challenging ETHICAL & MORAL LANDSCAPE.

You wouldn't be the first person or first group of people to feel compelled to take a step back and say: Maybe our current judgments aren't completely accurate or fair.

Touched with Fire --- Manic Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament (1996) by Kay Redfield Jamison

Hair Analysis, Psychological Analysis, the Criminal Law & the Ethical & Moral Imperative to Pull Back

The Importance of Addressing Executive Functioning ---- from ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPPORT to Assertive Community Treatment

2/2/2022

For a long time, Mental Health along with everyone just considered challenges in Executive Functioning as problems with LACK of RESPONSIBILITY.

Where do I personally get the best appointment reminders ---my upscale Suburban Dentists' office.
- I get reminded 2 weeks before the appointment.
- 1 week before the appointment
- And the day before
- In the manner --- I prefer
  - The "WHAT I PREFER" part is important
  - It is also challenging for any medical or health care provider
  - Some automated systems do provide for choice in manner of communication:
    - E-mail
    - Telephone
    - Text
    - Some people may need an actual in-person contact --- that Suburban Upscale Dentists' Office is providing a lot of personal contact just as a good business practice for the BOTTOM LINE.
That doesn't just happen --- it's a COST
At this point in my mental health journey, what ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT the psychiatrist has is MORE IMPORTANT to me --- than who the psychiatrist is.
I know this was a BIG ISSUE in Colorado Medicaid a few years ago and may have been at least partly resolved.
In Private Mental Health --- the Solos are sometimes trying to perform their own Administrative Support at the same time they are charging out of network.
- I know I felt ripped off --- and I probably wasn't the only one.

Group practices and Corporate Mental Health generally have more in the way of Administrative Support --- but it is still often falling short of what one can get in other areas of the Society.

Beyond that --- it is a telling indication that the profession doesn't really understand that they should be LEADING on matters of accommodating Executive Functioning Differences and Deficits.

A COMMON PRESCRIPTION: Let's try to turn this person into a NEURO-TYPICAL often doesn't work and it can EXACERBATE things. WHY IS THAT?

Those EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES are at least in part often DEVELOPMENTAL.
The BRAINS of People with Neuro-Developmental Disorders do become HYPER-CONNECTED as a way to try to COPE with various DIFFERENCES and DYSREGULATIONS.
By the time one gets to the MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL --- that's needing to be CALMED DOWN.

For some people with neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders, the Executive Functioning Support they need goes beyond APPOINTMENT REMINDERS which are really going to MEMORY and some other challenges related to DOPAMINE DYSREGULATION and other issues.

Part of EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING is EMOTIONAL REGULATION.

This is also an issue where it is NOT FEASIBLE for the Psychiatrist or Counselor to try to bear the ENTIRE LOAD of that.

PEER SUPPORT can be an EQUIVALENT of ESSENTIAL ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT when it comes to providing EMOTIONAL SUPPORT.

This does get to why serving people with Executive Functioning Differences can be so CHALLENGING --- we don't want to burn anybody out and we don't want to BANKRUPT our SYSTEMS either.

That's why having a SOCIETY that is EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING INFORMED is important.

In many cases, if we're providing A LITTLE BIT to MEDIUM SUPPORT --- IN MULTIPLE AREAS --- we can avoid the need for that total breakdown of functioning that is so costly PERSONALLY and FINANCIALLY FOR INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES and THE SOCIETY --- to say "Hey, something isn't working here."

Further, we can't put this on just one segment of the society --- or they can breakdown too --- and that is part of what has happened with Mental Health.

On the FLIP SIDE ---- we not only have to engage others ---- we have to develop, reward and employ those UNEXPECTED STRENGTHS that often come with NEURO-DIVERSITY.

One of the reasons ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT is the gold standard of Intensive Mental Health Care:

It's addressing those MULTIPLE NEEDS that EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING Differences and Challenges can present.

I love this video. It is from Canada and it's on Housing and Assertive Community Treatment.

One of the points the psychiatrist makes is --- You don't just get people better by seeing a PSYCHIATRIST --- you need this whole system of support.

I would submit the reason you need that whole system of support is to address DIFFERENCES and DEFICITS in EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING.

If we are combining TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING INFORMED CARE ---- we probably could do this more COST EFFECTIVELY.

Case in Point: The Biology of Substance Issues Meets "Us vs. Them Thinking" --- & A modern take on Loyalty & Fealty

1/22/2022

We're going to be looking at Substance Abuse and its relationship to Neuro-Endocrine and Neuro-Immune Pathways.

Also, the DISPARITIES with regard to DRUG ENFORCEMENT are fairly well established..

It's hard if not next to impossible to understand what is going on in this Country with regard not only to Criminal Justice BUT ALSO the Society At Large --- if you don't start addressing:

UNCONSCIOUS BIAS
US vs. THEM Thinking
and a Society of Lawyers, Advocates, and At Will Employees in which everyone has taken an OATH of LOYALTY & FEALTY --- and few are really free to speak their minds without fear of losing their jobs.
Further, educated professions such as LAW & Mental Health are making rudimentary logical mistakes --- but it is difficult to address if we're unwilling to address UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS that don't look so good anymore.

Tolstoy had an interesting REMEDY for US vs. Them Thinking and it was that God was on the SIDE of the UNDERDOG.

As soon as the UNDERDOG got the upper hand, it switched --- and God was on the SIDE of the NEW UNDERDOG.

I think one of the ways this is borne out in a way is that we are UNAWARE of our UNCONSCIOUS BIASES --- but those on the receiving end are AWARE --- and sooner or later that KNOWLEDGE is going to turn into POWER.

What Is the "Us Against Them" Mentality?

Effects of prenatal immune activation on amphetamine-induced addictive behaviors: Contributions from animal models (2021)

Abstract

Background: Prenatal environmental adversities may affect brain development and are associated with increased risk for schizophrenia, an illness with 50% comorbidity with addiction.

Maternal immune activation by poly-inosinic-citidilic acid (Poly(I:C)) exposure can promote behavioral alterations consistent with schizophrenia symptoms in rodents.

. . .

Conclusions: Prenatal administration of Poly(I:C) is able to potentiate vulnerability to addiction in two animal models, without however modulating stereotyped behavior.

Neuroendocrine and immune pathways from pre- and perinatal stress to substance abuse (2018)

Neuroimmune Mechanisms as Novel Treatment Targets for Substance Use Disorders and Associated Comorbidities (2021)

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