My Kryptonite. The root causes of mental illness

Quick catch up for those of you who don't know what Kryptonite is. Superman is a super hero (hence the name) who came to Earth from another planet as a baby. As he grew, it became clear that he had super human abilities - flying, x-ray vision and so on. Anyway, this was all ok unless he was exposed to Kryptonite. Once the Kryptonite came near him, he was not just human, he was sick. All caught up? So now the question I'm sure you're asking - what on Earth does this have to do with mental illness?

Sitting in front of the psychiatrist who, many years ago, diagnosed me with depression, anxiety and panic disorders, I asked a simple question "How did this happen?" He looked me straight in the eye and told me "You were just made that way". Beyond that, he really didn't know.

I don't blame him. Firstly, this was several years ago and we've come a long way in understanding the physiology and psychology of mental illness. Secondly, he was trained in a medical model that isn't really helpful in defining how illness comes about. And thirdly, he really didn't know. He wasn't malicious or uneducated, he just hadn't found the root cause of my unique problem - my kryptonite.

The modern medical system is stellar at diagnosis. With thorough testing and accurate case histories, medicine can name just about anything. Diagnosis falls into categories - psychiatric, neurological, gastroenterological for example. The naming isn't always particularly helpful though, as it doesn't necessarily tell you what is wrong or what to fix.

Beneath the label of the diagnosis is an imbalance, usually it's more than just one. So where do these imbalances come from? Most of the time, the imbalance is feedback about the environment - something right now isn't working for you and you need to change it. Here's a very basic run through of how it works.

The body takes the information from its environment and processes it through it's unique genetic makeup. This information can be about food quality or quantity, nutrients available, microorganisms or viruses, stress, exercise, toxins or any factor that might need to be managed by you to survive the environment you're in. For example, if you have a bacterial infection you want your body to respond appropriately. Enter the internal systems.

The body takes the information and then decides how to best run its internal systems. These systems cover an amazing number of biochemical processes. They control a vast network of events covering energy production, hormones, neurotransmitters, digestion and absorption, inflammation, immune function and detoxification (to name a few). The amazing thing is that for the most part, the amazing choregraphy works. Just think of the complex way in which the body attacks an invading bacteria. Even in illness, a lot of the time the body is trying to do the right thing by you.

Take depression, for example. On suggestion is that the aggressive feelings that come about from very low serotonin are there to psych you up to hunt, kill an animal and get more meat which is more tryptophan which gives you more serotonin - and this is just one way in which evolution could be using a disease to help you out. Sometimes, it may be helping the species out (which is a real bummer if you draw the short straw). Here is another theory - mental illness may be in part the result of the human development of mental abilities such as creativity or intelligence. Hence it's association with some of the brightest and most gifted individuals around - both now and throughout history.

This is why it can be so hard trying to answer "How did this happen?" The truth is that answering this question involves working out not only what is out of balance and how to rebalance it, but also what threw YOU out of balance in the first place. It means that you have to identify YOUR OWN Kryptonite (or Kryptonite's as the case may be.) This isn't necessarily easy, as mental illness has been associated with viruses, bacteria, nutritional deficiencies, allergies, intolerances, genetic anomalies, psychological factors, autoimmune disease, social stressors and on and on and on. That's why there is no single answer - there is no single cause!

This is where a functional and natural approach can be so helpful - it can help identify kryptonite (root causes) as well as managing imbalances. It can be used very successfully in conjunction with many other therapies. Physiology and psychology both need to be addressed.

It also means that the psychiatrist was right - I was made to respond to specific signals in the environment with mental signs and symptoms to tell me something was wrong. Eventually, my body created mental illness. For someone else, they may have gone down a path that created cancer or gastrointestinal diseases. But the flip side is that for most people who are mentally ill, there is also the capability of being your own level of Superman (or Superwoman if linguistics require it) - talented, creative and productive.

If I go crazy, will you still call me Superman? Of course I will, because most mental illness is really just a special case of Kryptonite :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu4QLu2ppsc