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This is a very unusual article from a recent edition of Scientific American. And hats off to them for publishing it.

The reality of all the different theories in the article, and similar ones elsewhere, is that they get very little, if any, funding for research.

Researchers currently have no interest in anything other than seeing mental illness as a disorder of the brain. This might be one reason why there has effectively been no progress in treatments for about the last 30 years. Studies repeatedly find that the latest drugs are in fact no better than those used previously, they just come with a different list of side effects.

The theory of what causes most mental illness that I believe makes most sense is that of Dr Campbell-McBride in her Gut and Psychology Syndrome book.

This is how I see it happening:

(1) The gut is compromised with bad bacteria, leading to candida, leaky gut, gluten (wheat) and lactose (milk) proteins leaking through into the body. Plus the many unstudied chemical bi-products that the bad bacteria produce.
(2) The compromised gut also lowers immune functioning throughout the body.
(3) The compromised gut also leads to vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the body.
(4) The brain is short of its basic building materials: EPA & DHA (as in Omega-3 Fish Oils)
(5) There is some other “assault” that finally results in the mental illness. This assault may be genetic, environmental, chemical, emotional, bacterial or virus related, who knows.
(6) The compromised state of the body means that while this "assault" does not lead to mental illness in many, it’s the final straw that will drive these individuals over the edge.

The cause leads to the treatment, which I believe leads to significantly better functioning in the "sufferer":

Repair the gut with a strong probiotic. Take Fish Oil to give the brain the basic building materials it needs to function properly.

Dr Campbell-McBride uses a particular diet in her treatment. I am hoping at the moment that this will prove unnecessary, and that the gut can be cured just via probiotics.

I am still experimenting with this…