Biochemistry & Mood
Chemical causes of mood and psychological distress
Pyrrole Disorder
Symptoms include inability to handle stress well, being touchy/sensitive, experiencing continued anxiety despite counselling, and mood swings. More on Pyrrole Disorder.
Methylation Disorders
Undermethylation and overmethylation can also underly persistent depression or anxiety. More on Methylation
Note from Clarissa
"I am not medically trained, and although I have training in nutrition, I am not a certified nutritionist. I do not diagnose or prescribe supplements to treat bio-chemical imbalances. If you think you have one of these disorders, you should find an appropriately trained medical professional to fully investigate your concerns.
I supply this information simply to inform people of other factors that could be contributing to their mental unwellness, as it often helps people find that missing piece to the puzzle of their illness. It is up to each individual how they choose to take this information and also their responsibility to do their own research around it. " Find a doctor here.
"I am not medically trained, and although I have training in nutrition, I am not a certified nutritionist. I do not diagnose or prescribe supplements to treat bio-chemical imbalances. If you think you have one of these disorders, you should find an appropriately trained medical professional to fully investigate your concerns.
I supply this information simply to inform people of other factors that could be contributing to their mental unwellness, as it often helps people find that missing piece to the puzzle of their illness. It is up to each individual how they choose to take this information and also their responsibility to do their own research around it. " Find a doctor here.
When it's not 'all in your mind'
Often people have been dealing with the same ongoing issue or mental illness for what seems like a lifetime. Sometimes things can be traced back to a bad childhood or the stress of past traumatic events, a loss, illness, or even an accident that marked the start of mental health issues. What people may not realise is that epigenetic changes provoked by massive stress can lead to imbalances in biochemisty that can radically affect mood.
Sometimes, however, there really doesn't seem to be a good reason for the ongoing bad feelings. We are all biochemically unique and--due to the stress of living--imbalances can result in a micro-nutrient excess or deficiency that radically affects neurotransmitter levels.
Recent developments in human genomics and nutrition point toward possible solutions to ongoing persistent mental health issues.
The work of Dr. Bill Walsh and the Bio-Balance Institute, following in the footsteps of Carl Pfeiffer, has demonstrated that many psychological illnesses have strong physical underpinnings.
"The brain is a chemical factory that produces brain chemicals 24 hours a day. The only raw materials for these syntheses are nutrients. If the brain receives improper amounts of these nutrient building blocks, we can expect serious problems with our neurotransmitters." (Dr. Bill Walsh)
Analysis of thousands of patients with resistant or severe mental illness revealed significant imbalances in nutrients or trace elements. These imbalances are not necessarily the result of poor diet; often they are the result of tiny genetic imperfections that culminate in faulty metabolic pathways. The end result is an imbalance in neurotransmitters (the chemical messengers in the brain that govern emotion and thought).
Bio-chemical imbalances can drive or contribute greatly to
- Anxiety
- Depression,
- OCD
- Schizophrenia
- ADHD and Autism
- Conduct and Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Addictions
Essentially what Dr. Walsh has found is that certain people are susceptible to having a major excess or deficiency in certain key nutrients that play a huge role in mental health. When these imbalances are identified and treated with the correct nutritional protocol, the brain can balance itself.
Sometimes, however, there really doesn't seem to be a good reason for the ongoing bad feelings. We are all biochemically unique and--due to the stress of living--imbalances can result in a micro-nutrient excess or deficiency that radically affects neurotransmitter levels.
Recent developments in human genomics and nutrition point toward possible solutions to ongoing persistent mental health issues.
The work of Dr. Bill Walsh and the Bio-Balance Institute, following in the footsteps of Carl Pfeiffer, has demonstrated that many psychological illnesses have strong physical underpinnings.
"The brain is a chemical factory that produces brain chemicals 24 hours a day. The only raw materials for these syntheses are nutrients. If the brain receives improper amounts of these nutrient building blocks, we can expect serious problems with our neurotransmitters." (Dr. Bill Walsh)
Analysis of thousands of patients with resistant or severe mental illness revealed significant imbalances in nutrients or trace elements. These imbalances are not necessarily the result of poor diet; often they are the result of tiny genetic imperfections that culminate in faulty metabolic pathways. The end result is an imbalance in neurotransmitters (the chemical messengers in the brain that govern emotion and thought).
Bio-chemical imbalances can drive or contribute greatly to
- Anxiety
- Depression,
- OCD
- Schizophrenia
- ADHD and Autism
- Conduct and Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Addictions
Essentially what Dr. Walsh has found is that certain people are susceptible to having a major excess or deficiency in certain key nutrients that play a huge role in mental health. When these imbalances are identified and treated with the correct nutritional protocol, the brain can balance itself.
Pfeiffer's Law states, "For every drug that benefits a patient, there is a natural substance that can achieve the same effect."
Life stress can lead to illness
Sometimes there is a connection, a feedback, between an epi-genetic disorder and stress. The disorder may exist as a pre-disposition until enough stress builds up for it to manifest.
Our diet, our stress load, our emotions, whether we are in a good or bad relationship, whether the people around us treat us well or not, whether we are exposed to toxins we cannot eliminate, how much we exercise our body--basically everything we do or have happen to us can cause a tip in the balance. Genes that would otherwise lay silent are turned on (or genes that should be turned on are turned off), and imbalance--often in the form of some mental illness--manifests.
This 'switching' can also occur under other conditions. Say someone is going along fine and then something awful happens. Then maybe another awful thing happens after that, or perhaps the person doesn't have time to recover from the first event, as they have to return to work or take care of family too quickly. The cumulative stress of these events can trigger an epi-genetic mental illness that persists long after the trauma has been dealt with, and the person just can't regain balance. So the person was initially fine, but then an enormous amount of stress caused an epi-genetic illness to occur.
It runs in the family
Many people write off mental illness, saying it 'runs in the family' because Aunt Joan had depression, brother Harry had bi-bolar and great grandfather Bob was schizophrenic. However, the fact that many people in the family had mental illness points more in the direction of a genetic heritability to imbalanced bio-chemistry than anything else.
Our diet, our stress load, our emotions, whether we are in a good or bad relationship, whether the people around us treat us well or not, whether we are exposed to toxins we cannot eliminate, how much we exercise our body--basically everything we do or have happen to us can cause a tip in the balance. Genes that would otherwise lay silent are turned on (or genes that should be turned on are turned off), and imbalance--often in the form of some mental illness--manifests.
This 'switching' can also occur under other conditions. Say someone is going along fine and then something awful happens. Then maybe another awful thing happens after that, or perhaps the person doesn't have time to recover from the first event, as they have to return to work or take care of family too quickly. The cumulative stress of these events can trigger an epi-genetic mental illness that persists long after the trauma has been dealt with, and the person just can't regain balance. So the person was initially fine, but then an enormous amount of stress caused an epi-genetic illness to occur.
It runs in the family
Many people write off mental illness, saying it 'runs in the family' because Aunt Joan had depression, brother Harry had bi-bolar and great grandfather Bob was schizophrenic. However, the fact that many people in the family had mental illness points more in the direction of a genetic heritability to imbalanced bio-chemistry than anything else.
What can cause a biochemical imbalance?
Neurotransmitters are made in the body from the nutrients in the food we eat. If we have a tendency toward being deficient in a certain nutrient that is key in making an important neurotransmitter, then we are going to have a problem feeling right no matter what we do.
It sounds simple, but really it's not that clear, due to the interplay of environment and genetics. Pinpointing the source of the problem in terms of nutrients, enzymes, co-factors and individual bio-chemistry is not an exact science. We know from the human genome project that it is not necessarily the genes we are born with that drive our destiny but the interrelationship of those genes with our life.
It sounds simple, but really it's not that clear, due to the interplay of environment and genetics. Pinpointing the source of the problem in terms of nutrients, enzymes, co-factors and individual bio-chemistry is not an exact science. We know from the human genome project that it is not necessarily the genes we are born with that drive our destiny but the interrelationship of those genes with our life.
Different types of bio-chemical imbalances include:
* Pyrrole disorder
* Methylation disorder (undermethylation or overmethylation)
* Copper overload/zinc deficiency
* Oxidative stress
* Heavy metal overloads
* Amino acid deficiency
* Gluten/dairy or other food intolerance*
* Biotoxin illness, mould and CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome)
(*While technically not a bio-chemical imbalance, gluten sensitivity can dramatically effect mood--possibly due to it mimicking a morphine-like substance in the brain.)
* Methylation disorder (undermethylation or overmethylation)
* Copper overload/zinc deficiency
* Oxidative stress
* Heavy metal overloads
* Amino acid deficiency
* Gluten/dairy or other food intolerance*
* Biotoxin illness, mould and CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome)
(*While technically not a bio-chemical imbalance, gluten sensitivity can dramatically effect mood--possibly due to it mimicking a morphine-like substance in the brain.)
“Most depressed persons were born with a biochemical predisposition for depression, which renders them particularly vulnerable to traumatic events and difficult life circumstances.”
- William Walsh, PhD
"Nutrient therapy and counselling are natural partners." (Dr. Walsh)
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YOU ARE INTERCONNECTED
We are not a brain, then a body. All of our body, nervous system, emotional world, memories, reactions--everything about us is interconnected. The best way to treat an interconnected system is to look at all of it and try to see what area, or set of areas, the problem is coming from, then treat all of those areas! While these disorders are chemical, they have a massive effect on the mental and emotional state of people. What's more, over time the disorder gets patterned into behaviour. |
For example: If someone has had severe pyrrole all their life, they are going to have a character structure that has developed in tandem with it. Treating the pyrrole with massive doses of vitamins will not always improve entrenched behavioural patterns.
Another example would be an undermethylator with a lifetime of depression. They may feel better when it is treated but still have a glass-half-empty view of the world.
A genetic predisposition makes us more vulnerable to life's insults, stress and the cruelty of others.
We are creatures of habit because patterns of behaviour create neural pathways that don't change over night.
DEPRESSION IS NOT CAUSED BY A DEFICIENCY IN ANTI-DEPRESSANT MEDICATION!
Another example would be an undermethylator with a lifetime of depression. They may feel better when it is treated but still have a glass-half-empty view of the world.
A genetic predisposition makes us more vulnerable to life's insults, stress and the cruelty of others.
We are creatures of habit because patterns of behaviour create neural pathways that don't change over night.
DEPRESSION IS NOT CAUSED BY A DEFICIENCY IN ANTI-DEPRESSANT MEDICATION!
Importance of treating the person AND the illness
Taking a purely medical approach to treating imbalances that affect the mind is going backwards. Research shows repeatedly that medication and counselling combined leads to the best outcomes. In the same way, identification of a biochemical disorder does not mean you do not need counselling.
Life issues that are or have been stressful will impact the course of your recovery. Stress is insidious: it erodes neurotransmitter function and elevates cortisol levels. If you have 'issues' that are concurrent, intertwined with or underlying your biochemical imbalance, then working with them while addressing your chemistry will be far more effective than just approaching things from one angle and hoping for the best. Many forward thinkers know that emotional problems can cause illness via the effect they have on the nervous system. It's all stress of some kind or another. Everything is connected, and it's a chicken-and-egg scenario as to which came first, the imbalance or the mental unwellness.
Just as diet and exercise reap the best results for your body, treatment and counselling give the best results for your mind.
Life issues that are or have been stressful will impact the course of your recovery. Stress is insidious: it erodes neurotransmitter function and elevates cortisol levels. If you have 'issues' that are concurrent, intertwined with or underlying your biochemical imbalance, then working with them while addressing your chemistry will be far more effective than just approaching things from one angle and hoping for the best. Many forward thinkers know that emotional problems can cause illness via the effect they have on the nervous system. It's all stress of some kind or another. Everything is connected, and it's a chicken-and-egg scenario as to which came first, the imbalance or the mental unwellness.
Just as diet and exercise reap the best results for your body, treatment and counselling give the best results for your mind.
The value of counselling combined with bio-chemical treatment
"I've encountered thousands of depressed and psychotic patients who have received major benefits from counselling.
Psychodynamic therapies not only provide insight, coping mechanisms, and self-image repair, but also can have an enduring impact on gene expression. There is evidence that effective counselling can also promote development of new synapses and neuronal mini columns, thereby permanently improving the microstructure of the brain.
Correcting brain chemistry often is not enough and counselling can enhance the benefits patients can enjoy.
For example, behaviour-disordered teens may have negative self-image and poor habits that cannot be corrected by chemistry alone. Many anorexic patients have reported nice improvement from nutrient therapies but needed effective counselling to achieve complete recovery.
Nutrient therapy and counselling are natural partners."
(An excerpt from NUTRIENT POWER by William J. Walsh, PhD)
