Mental health is continually cited as a causal factor in gun violence, ‘it isn’t the gun, it is the person’. But rarely do we take that statement and apply it globally to violence. A person that physically harms another by any means, in my opinion, is mentally ill, with few exceptions.
Recently, a home security video was circulating the internet depicting a woman screaming hysterically and banging on a door crying for help. She was located the next day inside the home of her boyfriend brutally beaten, her boyfriend was arrested and she was immediately taken to the hospital.
The actions of the man should be considered mental illness, just as the actions of a deranged mass gunman.
Another video was released today showing a Swedish woman at an Ocasio townhall calling for everyone to eat babies in order to reduce carbon emissions. While she is obviously mentally ill, she was told to sit down and at the end of the meeting likely went home.
Mental illness has been rising steadily, and while it is prevalent across the globe, it is measured in oblique terms by each country and the numbers do not represent the real problem when measured within the scope of violence.
Psychiatrists within mainstream outlets provide the same dreary analysis: Mental illness can be caused by environmental factors, biological factors, and hereditary factors.
So why the increase? What environmental factors should be avoided?
We have become a planet of toxins. Both heavy metal and man-made chemicals disrupt brain development and hormones. The cocktail has become so pervasive it is difficult to near impossible to avoid completely but knowledge can help mitigate:
1) Lead from old water pipes leaching into drinking water causes irreversible brain damage, a lowered IQ, brain volume loss, disrupted motor development and function, and the inability to achieve academically.
Although lead pipes were slowly discontinued since the 1950’s, any home, apartment, school, or office built before 1950 is likely to have lead piping. Flint Michigan was only the tipping point, the US has 6.1 million lead service lines connecting water supplies. The heaviest concentrations are in the north eastern and north central regions, Texas and Florida. States are doing absolutely – nothing to resolve the problem given that replacement is estimated to cost $1 trillion.
24 million homes across the US still have lead based paint.
2) Copper is an essential mineral that we obtain through shellfish, grains, nuts, beans and potatoes. But copper pipes leach just like lead pipes. Copper produces dopamine which is essential in providing us with alertness and reward based motivation. But too much dopamine can lead to ADHD symptoms; hyperactivity, aggressiveness, irritability, impulsivity, and agitation. In our pharma culture ADHD is treated with stimulants which do not work when levels of copper are too high and instead increase the ADHD symptoms.
In addition, excess copper blocks the production of serotonin, the necessary natural chemical that creates mood balancing in humans. A lack of serotonin causes; emotional, mental, and behavioral problems, depression, anxiety, psychosis and paranoia.
3) Phosphorous is the second most abundant chemical in the body. It is essential for our bone health. It is found in protein rich foods and a deficiency is rare. But, our bodies are finely tuned and balance is the scale that defines. Too much phosphorus interferes with our absorption of other minerals, such as calcium and magnesium. Phosphates in processed foods and soda are the largest contributors to an over abundance of phosphorus. Phosphates have been shown to trigger ADHD symptoms.
4) Many plastic products contain hormone disrupting chemicals, such as BPA and phthalates which enter the body and disrupt brain function and our nervous system. Phthalates are classified as a human carcinogen and are associated with childhood behavior problems and executive functioning problems (ADHD). These products have been found to leach from medical devices and pronounced levels were determined to be higher in children who were in intensive care facilities. Levels were shown to be sustained four years later.
BPA levels are monitored in urine. Children with higher levels of BPA are said to be 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. There is a significant positive association between pregnant women with high levels of BPA and boys showing behavior problems, depression, somatic behaviors, and defiant oppositional behavior. It is believed that the BPA in pregnancy altered thyroid function which is critical to brain development.
5) Insecticides have been shown to destroy an enzyme that controls attention, learning and short term memory. There are 40 different types of insecticides used throughout the US – including on school grounds.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton vowed that when she was elected president she would overhaul the US mental health system to increase providers and provide more medication. In other words, her solution had nothing to do with the ‘cause’ and everything to do with hyping Big Pharma. It wasn’t about curing – it was about profiting.
Knowledge is power. Each of these causal factors are detailed in their singular effect, the cocktail effect can be devastating! While we can likely not prevent the absorption of all these chemicals, we can limit the deficiencies and abundances through careful choices. Some are preventable. Healthy detoxification can include simple choices including drinking green, dandelion and black tea, eliminating processed foods, using toxic friendly household cleaners, no plastic, no Teflon, filtered water, no soda, etc…
