Blog Archives

The Last thing on my mind & Steadily growing weeds in Mental Health

4/29/2025

Val's Take: Tom Paxton grew up in my home state of Oklahoma and he is a favorite in Folk Music. He was certainly a favorite of my late husband Rick and this song was a particular favorite.

Further, there is something Universal about what Paxton is singing about --- you could arrange it in other genres including Country.

There is no limit to personal interpretations one could bring to this.

I am going to take it --- in a little bit different direction.

"The Weeds Have Been Steadily Growing" in Mental Health because it has not been sufficiently well grounded to the Underlying Biology.

Is this the result of Maliciousness or even Negligence --- well, there are a lot of factors that have played into this.

One of the biggest factors is IGNORANCE --- "They Know Not What They Do." A lot of people in Mental Health today did not get into it to be "Neuro-Immunologists." That is a problem.

Now many professionals might be willing to go in different directions if they had the proper support.

There are other problems across the board --- but in Criminal Justice the Contradictions are particularly harmful.

You have a DSM that wants to disclaim liability for being used in Court --- while everyone knows it is being used in Court and some American Bar Association Criminal Justice Standards are tying themselves to the DSM.

Tom Paxton

Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner cover

One thing leads to another

Death by Suicide in 2025

4/20/2025

Val's Take

Approximately 90 years ago my great-uncle died by suicide.
I think his family thought being born using forceps contributed to some mental health issues. I have no idea if that is true or not.

In March of this year, a member of my extended family died by suicide after several years of difficult mental health struggles.

On the one hand, I am painfully aware of the shortcomings of our current Mental Health treatments and systems.

On the other hand, I'm aware of just how frickin' complicated this is and what it is currently taking to get paradigms and treatments that are significantly better.

Individuals, families, the public and policymakers need to know that the need for more up-to-date paradigms and treatments is just as important as access.

UC San Diego

Blood Testing Identifies Biomarkers of Suicidal Thoughts (2023)

Next-generation precision medicine for suicidality prevention (2024)

"We propose that our findings and comprehensive approach can have transformative clinical utility."

International Symposium on Suicidality & Public Health

Focusing on novel neuroinflammatory biomarkers and targets in understanding and managing suicide

Drug Addiction, Microglia and Neuro-Immuno-pharmacology

4/19/2025

Val's Take/Conjecture

Less than 10 years ago, Dual Diagnosis -- psychiatric disorders and substance use were considered "2 Distinct Disorders."
That is not as true today.
Further, some Neuro-Diverse people are very prone to use particular drugs, and others are highly unlikely to use recreational drugs.

This idea of "Distinct Disorders" when it comes to Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders started to obviously breakdown with the findings of the National Institute of Mental Health in 2013--- that 5 disorders (ADHD, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, and Schizophrenia) shared common genes and also involved immune epigenetics and calcium channels.

The breaking down of "Distinct Disorders" has also seen the rise of more sophisticated understandings of biological mechanisms such as the microbiome and glial cells and the role of innate immunity in Neuro-Developmental, Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders as well as Autoimmune Disorders, Cancer, etc.

There is a move away from "Symptom Clusters" to "Mechanism-Based Sub-Typing."

Shared Genes & Psychiatric Disorders

All of this is highly relevant to our out-dated, half-right DSM 5 conceptualization of "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" which in the Research is now being conceptualized as a Neuro-Developmental Disorder.

Association patterns of antisocial personality disorder across substance use disorders (2024)

"The present study expands our understanding of polysubstance addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders.

"Our findings support personalized interventions targeting mechanism-based subtyping in relation to ASPD-SUD comorbidities."

Maternal immune activation and adolescent alcohol exposure increase alcohol drinking and disrupt cortical-striatal-hippocampal oscillations in adult offspring (2022)

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

Microglia in neuroimmunopharmacology and drug addiction (2024)

Affiliations

1Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China.
2Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, and the Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.
3Laboratory of Chemical Biology, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin, 130022, China.
4School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
5Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.

Abstract

Drug addiction is a chronic and debilitating disease that is considered a global health problem.

Various cell types in the brain are involved in the progression of drug addiction.

Recently, the xenobiotic hypothesis has been proposed, which frames substances of abuse as exogenous molecules that are responded to by the immune system as foreign "invaders", thus triggering protective inflammatory responses.

An emerging body of literature reveals that microglia, the primary resident immune cells in the brain, play an important role in the progression of addiction.

Repeated cycles of drug administration cause a progressive, persistent induction of neuroinflammation by releasing microglial proinflammatory cytokines and their metabolic products.

This contributes to drug addiction via modulation of neuronal function.

In this review, we focus on the role of microglia in the etiology of drug addiction.

Then, we discuss the dynamic states of microglia and the correlative and causal evidence linking microglia to drug addiction.

Finally, possible mechanisms of how microglia sense drug-related stimuli and modulate the addiction state and how microglia-targeted anti-inflammation therapies affect addiction are reviewed.

Understanding the role of microglia in drug addiction may help develop new treatment strategies to fight this devastating societal challenge.

Substance Use Disorders Are Psychiatric Disorders (2023)

Harvard law Review sounds the alarm on the "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" diagnosis

4/18/2025

Val's Take

In 2013, the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) voiced serious concerns regarding the scientific validity of the DSM 5.
In fact, NIMH found that the DSM 5 lacked validity because it relied on symptom clusters rather than the underlying biology.
As each year goes by, the case against the DSM 5 becomes stronger and stronger.
In 2025, more and more researchers are conceptualizing Anti-Social Personality Disorder as a Neuro-Developmental Disorder.

Personality Disorders, Developmental Differences Conceptualization Matters--- It Matters A Lot In The Criminal Justice System

Burden of Proof

DSM 5 --- Criminal Justice Wheel of Fortune

Personality Disorders --- Unscientific & Vague --- Must Be Reformed

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

Bias Baked In: How Antisocial Personality Disorder Diagnoses Trigger Legal Failure (February 2025)

"This Note cannot change the DSM, but it can sound an alarm. The ASPD diagnosis lacks clinical utility; it operates as a barrier to treatment and engenders prejudice. Reform is necessary — perhaps discarding this label entirely.

"Mental health professionals must also realize that a
disclaimer in the DSM does not go far enough to protect against the way the legal system interprets and applies clinical knowledge.

"Clinical and legal professionals must learn from the past and work against perpetuating biases and harmful self-fulfilling prophecies."

Spikeyness in the mental health profession ---

4/11/2025

Val's Take: I met Daniel Boorstin in the early 1980s in Washington D.C. when he was Librarian of Congress and I was a Ewing Fellow from the University of Oklahoma (Boorstin was born in Oklahoma).

I didn't know anything about him at that time --- but he is a mental association that I have had --- and I've learned more about him and his books. He actually had done some work on the history of the Legal Profession in the US.

I talked with Boorstin and his wife for some time around the pool about what I wanted to do -- be a lawyer -- the nature of time -- etc. ---- I think he concluded pretty quickly that I was not well suited for the current legal profession I would be walking into and advised I should be a philosopher.

I became a lawyer anyway --- and it has made me the philosopher I am today.

Back in the early 1980s --- "The Future Was So Bright I Had To Wear Shades" ----- I had no idea what awaited me. I would not wish it on my worst enemy.

It is sometimes said of Neuro-Diverse people that we are "Spiky" --- we have big strengths and big weaknesses. The same could be said of the Mental Health Profession.

CNN
Holmes Had A Psychiatrist Before the Attack (2012)

CountyOffice.org
What Is The Daubert Standard For Expert Testimony? (2025)

9 News
How a Colorado murderer bounced from 2 hospitals and a jail cell before the crime (2022)

"A day after a Boulder County judge released Brian Murray on a PR bond, he went to the Denver home of a man he knew, looking for money – and killed him.

"Stu Hoebel's wife found him beaten to death in his basement.

"It's a case study in how the US health care and criminal justice systems continue to have cracks wide enough for someone like Brian Murray to fall through."

Denver Post
Colorado murder victim’s husband sues hospital, says staff should have recognized suspect’s mental illness (2025)

Response to:The Neurodiversity Framework in Medicine: On the Spectrum (2025) --- Harvard & the Autonomous University of Mexico

4/11/2025

Val's Take/Conjecture

It is a HUGE PARADIGM SHIFT to recognize bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression as DEVELOPMENTAL NEUROBIOLOGY ISSUES.
Modern Psychiatry and Psychology got a lot wrong and they're still getting a lot wrong -- but they were left to hold down the fort until new evidenced based understandings and treatments were available.

Hallelujah!!!!

Tailored support and interventions that accommodate individual needs.
Focusing on Neuro-Divergent Strengths and Perspectives
Innovative Treatments that increase Quality of Life and improve Functional Results
Including neurodivergent people in all sectors of society, including research, clinical practice, and policymaking
Including NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE as one of the disciplines that needs to be included for people with "Mental Illness."

The authors got the "DEVELOPMENTAL" aspect of these disorders.

It is hard to over-state how important that is.

The authors use some interesting phrasing:

This new viewpoint "undermines established notions of these conditions as disorders/diseases that may be healed or corrected."
On the other hand, they talk about the need for innovative treatments to improve quality of life.
And Neuro-Diverse folks need to be included in Research.

It is very hard to acknowledge and especially hard for Neuro-Diverse people to acknowledge that a large percentage of the Justice-Involved and Homeless populations are Neuro-Diverse.

When We're Talkin' Neuro-Diversity --- We're Talkin' Neuro-Diversity

If you have some DEI Initiative that doesn't seem to understand that there are "pathological" aspects to Neuro-Diversity ----- you're an easy target for Trump and others.

Finally, the idea that Neuro-Diversity is just about identity makes it harder for people who are struggling the most and the most ostracized by the society to get the help they need for complex Neuro-Developmental and Neuro-Immune Disorders.

Funding: Funding was provided by Harvard University's Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging as part of the Culture Lab Innovation Fund.

Affiliations

1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
2Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Mexico State, Toluca de Lerdo, Mexico, Mexico.
3Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

ABSTRACT

The term “neurodiversity” refers to the natural heterogeneity in human neurological functioning, which includes neurodevelopmental differences and other mental health conditions (e.g., autism spectrum disorder [ASD], attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], dyslexia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and depression).

This new viewpoint has significant consequences for the future of medicine, specifically in psychiatry, neurology, and neurodevelopmental medicine, as it undermines established notions of these conditions as disorders/diseases that may be healed or corrected.

The neurodiversity approach, on the other hand, acknowledges these divergences as natural variations, calling for tailored support and interventions that accommodate individual needs.

Neurodiversity could impact current medical perspectives by supporting a shift from pathology to identity.

Rather than focusing on the difficulties associated with a specific ailment, the neurodiversity approach stresses the strengths and distinct perspectives that come with neurodivergent identities.

This shift has significant consequences for research and therapy by fostering the development of innovative treatments aimed at increasing quality of life and improving functional results.

This new perspective advocates including neurodivergent people in all sectors of society, including research, clinical practice, and policymaking, by recognizing, accepting, and integrating natural variances in brain functioning.

In this article, we review the development of the neurodiversity movement and propose “The Neurodiversity Framework in Medicine,” which challenges traditional views by recognizing neurological differences as natural variations, advocating for inclusive, person-centered approaches in healthcare.

Everything Everywhere all at once, Connectedness and Justice

4/7/2025

Michelle Yoeh
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Halluci Nation
R.E.D.

Val's Take: This actually isn't a pitch for the "Multi-Verse" --- what I am trying to get to is a more ancient idea of Historical Cause and Effect and Trans-Generational Effects as well as Biological Systems that are involved in Multi-Directional Ways.

Also for some of us with Processing Disorders or Differences ---- It can feel like Everything Everywhere All At Once.

I ran across a Mount Sinai video from 3 years ago in which one of the researchers estimated that we would fully understand Mental Disorders in a few hundred years --- and he wasn't joking. This particular researcher was also for turning every patient into a research subject (with consent).

I don't necessarily share that view --- BUT Neuro-Developmental Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, Neuro-Degenerative Disorders, and other forms of Chronic Disorder and Disease are COMPLICATED.

Many members of the public are for "treatment" --- but it can be more a Mixed Bag than we're generally willing to acknowledge.

Who Bears the Burden of Society's Ignorance

Burden of Proof

Trauma Index

Mental Health Must Change to be effective --- A big part of that is appreciating the large role of the immune system in mental and brain disorders

Environmental Toxins

BUT --- it is not just the Immune System.

The Microbiome and the Anna Karenina Priniciple

Endocrine System

And that's not all . . .

Stanford Neuro-Biology Professor Robert Sapolsky:

"You are never really going to understand what is going on if you get it into your head that you're going to be able to explain everything with this is--

the part of the brain
the childhood experience
the hormone
the gene
or the evolutionary mechanism

---That explains everything.

"It doesn't work that way. Instead any behavior is the result of biology that occurred a second ago, hours ago, days ago -- a million years ago."
. . . .

"O000h it's complicated. Well, that's very useful.

"How 'bout, 'OOOh it's complicated and you better be really careful and really cautious before you think you understand the causes of a behavior, especially if it's a behavior you judge harshly.' "

Getting out of the bottomless pit of out-dated understandings

4/1/2025

Chainsmokers
High

Val's Take: I love the Chainsmokers song and video "High" ---- it layers personal and political meanings.

We don't have a common understanding of Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders between the Researchers and the Clinicians ---- so it's not surprising the policymakers and the public have an amorphous, bottom-less pit view of Neuro-Developmental & Psychiatric Disorders.

On the other hand, we are in the process of getting a common understanding with the identification of BIOMARKERS and Paradigm Shifts to Developmental Multi-System Neuro-Immune Disorders.

That is making its way to Continuing Medical Education Programs and the Clinicians and hopefully to the public, policymakers and the Legal System.

Transitional/ Translational Justice Monday