Monday, August 13, 2012

The Natural Treatment of Mental Illness


First, take no medication



I'd wanted to write this piece about The Natural Treatment of Mental Illness for a very long time, but every time I did, something would come up. This is what I wrote in my last article: "The planets Pluto and Uranus will enter into square position to each other this June 24, 2012. We have been feeling its stressful effects since the super moon of last month, and the Transit of Venus, which also had a message of its own I shared with you last. There was an upsurge of psychosis and gruesome murders, and almost every one I know is in a state of crisis".

I'd been involved in the Meredith Kercher murder case that kept bringing up new insights into criminal pathology; we had the horrific Luka Magnotta case right here in Canada, where a deranged young man killed and dismembered another young man and videotaped the whole crime, and finally, we had the largest mass shooting in the United States at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. 12 people were killed, and 58 more injured. Interesting coincidence, but the shooter was a young neuroscientist born the same year as Amanda Knox, and he, too, had no earlier indication of anything being wrong. He had just presented a paper on micro-RNA research in a class titled "The Biological Markers of Mental Illness" which closely matches my current field of study.

But, much as the study of criminal psychology interests me, my practice has had more to do with the broader definition of mental illness, as a breakdown of the human race and society.

I am a physician, but I also am a spiritual teacher. A search for the causes and treatment of mental illness has been a lifelong passion of mine. I have long concluded that there are not only physical and emotional causes for every illness, there also are, spiritual causes. Not the sort of paper one can present to a medical journal, but that's ok. I'd rather pass on my findings to other doctors to carry on the research, and write in plain language, for ordinary people.

And now, it seems that concurrent with the breakdown of spirituality in society, there is a huge increase in mental illness around the world. And what I classify as mental illness, is not just the isolated cases of criminality or the increased numbers of mentally ill people, but what I see in our political, financial and social elites. What could the greed and lust for power and countless wars, destruction of our environment, and whole scale theft be classified as anything but a widespread pathology? 

But first, I would like to share my journey with you.

In ancient times, mentally ill people were considered to be blessed by the gods.

Then, they were thought to be possessed by demons.

Jesus, the healer, is said to have cast out evil spirits. But then, he knew all along that mental illness is also, a spiritual illness. Until we recognize that, all the search for a defective gene or chemical imbalance or areas of brain damage or physical treatments will make no difference at all.

I have already written that several people in my family suffer from Autism. I've also published much of my research and discoveries in the effective treatment and prevention of such disorders. I shared this information with other doctors and specialists around the world, at international conferences on alternative medicine, in my free clinics, and now, I am writing this article to share the information with you.

One of the first books I read on Psychology was a treatise on Criminal Psychology, the second on The Mass Psychology of Crowds. (I was 14 years old, and we had a well stocked school library, courtesy of the British Council) Since then I have done a lot of work in looking up the connection between criminality and mental illness.

I also, through my connections with the Psychic community, discovered a close connection between their extreme emotional sensitivities, schizophrenia, and depression. Yes, I lost many of my friends to suicide, and wish I could have helped them more, even though my first lesson has always been, you can't help everyone. (See my Michael Jackson, the Drowning Man, July 03, 2009).

There may be environmental or genetic reasons why we are having a huge increase in mental illness figures. The old figures were that 10% of our children had some sort of a learning disorder; it's likely to be much higher now. And I am reminded every day about the disturbing increase in psychoses and psychotic behaviour in society.

Nature vs nurture may play a part. Vaccines cause brain damage across several generations, this much I know through my work (article to follow) Environmental pollutants and neurotoxins (mercury, fluoridated water, aspartame, MSG) definitely play a part. Trauma, be it emotional or physical, plays a part.

There are those who believe that the major psychiatric illnesses, depression, schizophrenia, paranoid psychosis, and psychopathy are all caused by neurotransmitter deficiencies, inactive areas of the prefrontal cortex, or brain damage. True, but I do not agree with the treatments used by conventional psychiatry, which consists of chemical, electrical, or physical lobotomies of the brain.

Then there are many in the alternative field who say mental illness, especially depression and ADHD,  is over diagnosed. I do not agree entirely. Yes, there are way too many new 'labels', each designed to widen the market for psychotropic medication. But, there is a definite increase in mental illness, sociopathy, and psychosis. I fear for the survival of society, for we are now passing on illness to our children. Homoeopathy calls it a  miasm, but that really is the same as genetic damage.

But first, I have a unifying theory that covers the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the illness. Before I teach you about treatment, first, I must educate you.

First, if you read my previous article The Criminal Mind 
http://manfromatlan.blogspot.ca/2011/09/criminal-mind.html which shows the similar patterns of brain damage in psychopaths and schizophrenics. Then, please read about my work in Autism here Not Incurable-New Research on Autism http://manfromatlan.blogspot.ca/2007/12/not-incurable-new-research-on-autism.html you will get an overview of my approach. 

Then, please read Renewed Hope for Mental Healthhttp://vitalitymagazine.com/article/renewed-hope-for-mental-health/ by Helke Ferrie, which details the ground breaking work of Dr. Abraham Hoffer, M.D., a psychiatrist who pioneered the use of supplements and nutritional therapies for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

" The October 2005 issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress was devoted to research articles focusing on the now increasingly undeniable fact that most psychiatric disorders (not induced by physical injury) are caused primarily by emotional trauma. The mythic “chemical imbalance,” which automatically was assumed to be a Prozac deficiency, is evaporating for lack of evidence.

What do these four news items have in common? The truth that feeding the brain garbage — toxic or dead food, or toxic and deadly experiences — is the cause of mental illness in all its many forms including faulty brain development, cognitive deficits, Down’s Syndrome, depression, and schizophrenia.

PloS, founded by thousands of US medical students and Nobel laureate Harold Varmus in 2004, was created in protest against the corruption pervading medical publications; PloS accepts no advertising, only publishes research free from all connections to the pharmaceutical industry, and is freely available on-line.

Even the ultimate sacred cow of standard psychiatry, the famous serotonin theory of depression, has expired. The new journal PloS Medicine (Public Library of Science Medicine –http://medicine.plosjournals.org) published an article in their December 2005 issue entitled “Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature.”

Reviewing research since the 1960s when this hypothesis was first suggested, the authors conclude that the $3 billion (US) antidepressant market, claiming this hypothesis as scientific justification for its existence, is based on nothing at all; they observe that “contemporary neuroscience research has failed to confirm any serotonergic lesion in any mental disorder and has in fact provided significant counterevidence to the explanation of a simple neurotransmitter deficiency.” They conclude: “The incongruence between the scientific literature and the claims made by SSRI [anti-depressant drugs] advertisements is remarkable, and possibly unparalleled.”

Dr. Abraham Hoffer inspired me to look for alternative answers for mental illness. We are indeed fortunate that the NDP government of Saskatchewan encouraged this groundbreaking psychiatrist and biochemist to successfully treat his patients using large quantities of vitamins and mineral supplements, instead of the previous, unsuccessful electroshock and brain surgeries.

His Adventures in Psychiatry will always remain a classic, in my eyes.

What changed in the last 40 years? The discovery of Lithium based medications encouraged drug companies to bring in newer, more expensive and highly dangerous psychopharmacological drugs to a population that was convinced that pills would make them 'feel better'. The FDA rubber stamped approval based on drug company assurances they were 'safe', even though their trials were incomplete, flawed, and short term.

For a list of the harmful drugs and their side effects, see here: http://www.sntp.net/drugs/drugs.htm  

They state: "Psychiatric drugs obtain their result by causing brain dysfunction". And, according to Dr. Peter Breggin of Toxic Psychiatry, those on medication have a greater incidence of suicide or suddenly snapping and committing a horrible crime. I myself have lost or nearly lost loved ones to suicide after starting on anti-depressants

Then please, read "Anatomy Of An Epidemic~Magic bullets, psychiatric drugs, and the astonishing rise of mental illness in America" by Robert Whitaker which asks the question why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the last two decades? He doesn't quite have an answer, but suggests that the medical establishment is not interested in an answer, just wedded to expensive 'solutions' and suppressing, other, more humane methods of treatment. Sometimes, all we need is someone to listen to us.

If I were to say what are the physiological causes of mental illness, the answer would be:

  • Vaccines, and the ensuing genetic damage.
  • Micro-brain tumors.
  • The overload of environmental toxins from our chemicalized society.
  • Aspartame and Fluoride taken internally.
  • Nutritional imbalances and poor diet.
  • Auto-immune factors.
  • Prior recreational or pharmaceutical drug use.
  • An unresolved psychological trauma, abuse, or isolation.
  • Brain injury.
But the real answer is that mental illness has not only a physical cause, but also, an emotional, and, a spiritual cause. And the treatment cannot completely work if it does not incorporate and balance all three energies.  

Sadly, we are so wedded to the rational material world that we can never see that.

When my son was diagnosed with Autism we were able to help him recover with intensive therapy, a strict diet, and two substances which can, taken in combination, help reverse brain damage (more on this below).
But what made the difference was the healing work, and not just the other things.

Nor will we ever cure mental illness till we heal the psychosis that pervades this planet, and get rid of the warmongers, polluters, and thieves that plague us.

But, till then, try to live as natural a life as possible.
Give the time to listen to someone in pain.
Find a spiritual path that can help you find peace.

So far I have treated over 400 Autistic children, most of whom have gotten significantly better, and some, recovered fully. And not just Autism, I have treated many more people with other illnesses. I had a free clinic for many years in Toronto, and I have traveled the world and treated patients privately. I gave the research to other doctors, but they did not carry it as far as I would have liked. Me, I had to come back to my spiritual work, but would like to share this insight with you.

Psychiatry, as it is shaped today, does not work. It needs to find natural substances, and not chemical ones.
Psychology can help, but it's a lengthy process. Still, treating our lost souls with love and kindness does help!
If I were to open another clinic, it would be in nature, with clean air and away from the deadness of a city, and it would include, spiritual healing. My goal is to keep teaching the healers.

Till then, here is what you can do. Dr. Hoffer successfully treated Schizophrenics with Vitamin B. Look up an ortho-molecular or homoeopathic physician. Research in Brazil shows that Vitamin E helped increase the IQ of Down Syndrome children. Well, Dr. Charlton Fredericks proved the brain repairing power of Octacosanol which is the active ingredient in Vitamin E, and Russian scientists have had remarkable results with DMG. It was my discovery, that the two substances, taken together, Octacosanol and DMG, could reverse brain damage. Literally, children began to speak! And that was confirmed by Autism researcher the late Dr. Bernard Rimland and clinics in Korea and Japan, when they replicated the results. It works by increasing the oxygenation and brain circulation, and improving the immune system. Why is this not widely known? Actually, I was written up in Super Memory-The Revolution, but there still was way too much resistance to anything new, alternative, and not covered by a patent.

My younger daughter was classified as a 'slow learner'. Now she started taking the two substances, she gets A's and B's. A friend in England, her daughter has improved at Maths. And many more stories like that.

But if your illness is deeper than that, you need to find a way to that peace. Let me know if there is any way I can help.

Sincerely,
Naseer Ahmad

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

Hello,

I am a junior-level undergraduate student at University of North Florida. I am studying General Psychology (Bachelor of Science). I am constantly searching for more information on mental health and I have been a supporter of the idea of brain recovery ever since I heard about the disconnection hypothesis of Schizophrenia (more on how I came about knowing about Schizophrenia, if you'd like, by email). It just makes sense to me that mental illness is due to damage, poor brain coordination, and most significantly, poor nutritional support on the brain. I have ADD/ADHD and personally I feel it's more along the lines of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and I think I indeed have something wrong with my pattern of processing things related to motivation. My email address is JenniferCeceliaPrivate@gmail.com

Please write to me if you see this comment and when you have time. I'd really appreciate it. I am definitely going to look more into getting those vitamins you mentioned after I read more about it.

Man From Atlan said...

Hi, Jennifer, and thanks for writing. I would be very happy to give whatever information I can, and will reply by e-mail.

Yes, brain recovery is possible, but that requires a multi-disciplinary approach, and, time.

Regards,
Naseer Ahmad

Man From Atlan said...

E-mail sent to you a while back. Let me know how it goes, thanks.

Dee Doanes said...

Thanks for the great post Naseer. Just like Jennifer said, nutritional support is necessary for good brain health. I wrote a three part article talking about alternative treatments for mental illness. Eating naturally fermented foods, taking B12, boosting folate levels, and not taking birth control pills are some of the ways to help treat mental illness. Hopefully my info can help your readers.http://healthplusstyle.com/mental-illness-alternative-health-treatment-part-2/