This website was created to provide information about mental health issues and
in-depth information regarding psychological processes. A few general health issues with psychiatric
manifestations which are sometimes ignored by mainstream medicine, are also discussed.
The subject matter includes various medical conditions that can have brain/neurological
symptomatology, information on personality disorders/traits, and detailed information on psychological defenses used in everyday
life. Addictions will be mentioned. Also included is information with links to related subjects
areas such as heavy metal toxicity/mercury amalgams, chelation therapy, Lyme Disease, vaccination/vaccine issues, and various
links for related information. A few fun links were added for for diversity.
Personal interest resulted from having been a neuropsychodiagnostician and researcher
at a medical university, where I saw psychiatric syndromes that sometimes were a direct result of medical illnesses. Some
syndromes were only attributed to psychiatric diagnoses until appropriate medical testing was done (endocrine testing, infectious
disease and toxicity testing, etc). The resolution of some of the psychiatric conditions with the appropriate hormone, antibiotic, or
medical treatment was often dramatic.
Testing patients gave me an eye-witness experience of psychiatric illnesses
and syndromes. The job involved testing patients to identify DSM diagnostic criteria and/or brain area impairment,
IQ, memory functions, etc., in order to categorize the patients' psychiatric syndromes for the psychiatric staff, to help
determine treatment. This included looking for unconscious conflict via projective testing, interpreting personality
test results to determine personality traits, and the identification of major defense mechanisms used by patients and
in some cases, testing of neuropsych patients having suffered brain injuries such as stroke or Alzheimers'. Brain injuries
can often exaggerate traits such as compulsiveness or aggression, which are often mistaken for normal defense mechanisms.
As definitions for defense mechanisms were expanded upon in this website, I wanted to
include information/links on some of the medical/psychiatric disorders that might also trigger behaviors that might be construed
as defenses or even mental illness (paranoia, rages, depression, obsessive-compulsive behaviors). Other information
includes lead/mercury poisoning and cognitive difficulties, Lyme Disease and the relationship to MS and Alzheimer's Disease,
and Learning Disabilities.
My own diagnosis of Lyme Disease gave me the unhappy experience of memory loss and
other functional deficits that resulted from the disease. As I became more educated about Lyme Disease and its treatment,
I learned about the psychiatric, neurological, and neuropsyhological symptoms that can occur if the infection reaches
the brain and remains untreated. Treatment recommendations from Lyme-literate doctors often include strengthing the immune
system with autolymphocyte injections, heavy metal chelation treatment, dental health-mercury amalgam removal, correcting
endocrine dysfunction and hormone deficits, IV antibiotic and vitamin therapy, multiple tick-borne infection testing
and treatment, and hyperbaric oxygen therapies, to name a few.
This information is not meant to be all inclusive, but to point to different or new directions for better mental and
physical health. The information is not to be construed as medical advice.
