READ IF you want a fairly technical scientific understanding of mental illness..

All mental disorders are metabolic disorders. The brain, for it’s small weight, uses a disproportionate amount of energy. The common pathway for all mental illnesses (minor to severe) is metabolic dysfunction. Treatments to restore mental health should focus on metabolic factors like diet, exercise, stress level, etc.

Lessons…

• Our treatment of mental disorders right now essentially follows this logic: I had a headache, so I took ibuprofen and felt better. That means I must have ibuprofen deficiency disorder. If I just take an ibuprofen every day then I will feel better. Well clearly the real issue is not a lack of ibuprofen - there is something more to the picture.
• (Insert name of mental disorder) is just a “chemical imbalance” in the brain… Okay, well why the chemical imbalance? That’s the question!
• Mental disorders are the most common cause of disability on the planet. And our current treatment models don’t work very well. For example, despite dozens of antidepressants, therapies, electro and magnetic brain stimulation, ketamine, and more -- depression is the single most disabling illness in the world.
• Mitochondria regulate metabolism and therefore mental health. They respond to bio-psycho-social factors. This means it is not about just genes or chemicals. Stress, social conditions, and trauma affect cellular metabolism and disrupt brain energy function.
• To restore brain health, normalize metabolism. Use diet (usually ketogenic or similar) and exercise (Zone 2 cardio is great). You also must limit drugs/alcohol, reduce stress, seek therapy for trauma/afflictive mental patterns, improve sleep, and all of this often occurs while weening off of pharmaceuticals. Interestingly, the ketogenic diet has been shown to treat epilepsy and schizophrenia.

I publish resources and tools to optimize for happiness at studyhappiness.blog and at *@jacksonkerchis on Youtube.*

Happiness PhD with Jackson K. | Jackson Kerchis | Substack

Jackson Kerchis