Before modern medicine, during the early 1900’s there were many attempts at treating individuals with psychiatric-like symptoms through holistic measures, religious, and more popularly physically in the sense of treating mental illnesses as if they were an actual biochemical infection.
A famous psychiatrist who produced very influential work, diagnosis, and effective treatment plans for the mentally ill by the name of Adolph Meyer, from John Hopkins University is thought to have originally turned people on to the idea of using physical-remedies for mental illnesses.
In fact, Henry Cotton, an American psychiatrist from New Jersey created and applied the method of removing decaying teeth, as well as minor and major organs such as ovaries, tonsils, colons, and even testicles! At the time, an individual with such a level of education and trusted background was not deemed a threat to society, and instead, was rather encouraged to perform these operations by the government and society at the timeas they could not practically develop other meaningful solutions at the time to treating severe mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia or Bipolar II, for example.
Not too soon after, Henry Cotton was appointed Director of the New Jersey State Hospital for the mentally insane, so in turn, continued utilizing his method(s) until becoming deceased.
While there is no solid evidence that his techniques were effective above a 40% success rate, many ponder a placebo type effect, and the possibility that somehow the chemistry between an infection of the body and your mental stability are adjoined or rely on one another for balance.
Professors and researchers from both Stony Brook University and the University of Virginia have found a chemical connection, based on Adolph Meyers original theorem that mental illnesses were metaphysically entwined and could be treated as a physical illness. In fact, not only considered a contagious disease by some professionals to-date, specific strains of herpes, Borna disease, and triggers for the chickenpox and shingles have been linked to the inflammation build up within the body as well as brain that can produce similar symptom’s to that of a psychiatric condition.
To-date, professional researchers and pharmaceutical companies are producing and attempting, alongside of trusted psychiatrists and psychologists, to utilize medications such as Ibuprofen and Aspirin to treat symptoms of depression and even mania. While there has been some partial resulting success in using these medications, as opposed to SSRI’s, it’s unlikely that they are stable, nor strong enough to consistently treat and aid the body in ‘recovering’ from the aforementioned mental illnessesas most of these are not considered curable in general.
As recent research has linked a newly discovered set of blood-vessels to the immune system, speculation and attempts to continue treating or ‘repairing’ the immune system as an alternative treatment or solution for mental illnesses becomes more prominent. It however, is not uncommon for medical professionals to attempt to utilize drugs in a cross-manner in efforts to achieve different results or use ‘side-effects’ to an advantage. For example, how many psychiatrists rely on Seroquel (Quetiapine) to-date for the sedative effects (under 200mg) to treat insomnia, mania, and even depression.
Only time and research will tell for sure what the likelihood is of finding effective alternative measures for treating mental illnesses. Until then, make sure you always consult with a credible physician and professional before consuming any prescription-drugs, as side effects can vary and proper stabilization and accompanying treatment are necessary to be most effective on the human body.
Mike Morgan is a health enthusiast and has written several health articles for various health magazines.
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