Allergy and Mental Disease

The following may come as a surprise to most people, including most medical doctors. 

Most mental disease is caused by unsuspected brain allergies!

This fact was illuminated for me by Dr Marshall Mandell in the early 80′s.  He appeared on the Phil Donahue show, and had videos of persons with mental problems caused or worsened by allergen testing.  He was the first to name such as “brain allergies”.

In 1982, Dr Von Hilsheimer introduced the first End-Point-Titration allergy testing into Florida, and I worked with him at an allergy clinic in Orlando.  We amazed several MD allergists in that clinic with depression and many other cases being solved.

During that time, I studied allergy/sensitivity extensively.  I found a list of mental diseases caused by allergens that surprised me.  None of my previous experience and learning in psychology had prepared me for such.  I found the following in a “standard” text on allergies as “Mental Symptoms”.  It surprised me, and probably will you.

Schizophrenia, depression, hyperactivity (ADD/ADHD), Emotional instability or hypersensitivity, Insomnia, Chronic fatigue, crying jags, stuttering, excessive daydreaming, anxiety, panic attacks, withdrawn, listless, seizures, aggressive behavior, anger, irritability, silly, tense, restless, excited, agitated, behavior problems in children, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, poor comprehension, confusion, impaired attention, obsessive thoughts, compulsive behavior, feelings of unreality, disorientation, false beliefs or delusions, hallucinations, suicidal, feel like hurting self.

While giving a 4 day orthomolecular seminar in Soviet Georgia in 2000, I was introduced to the latest EEG biofeedback therapy of raising the amplitude of the brain waves just above Alpha, in the range of 12-15 Hz.  (later named the SMR brain wave) In the discussion, I remembered that list of mental diseases caused by allergens.  I then proposed the following theory:  “Raising the SMR brain wave somehow changed the affect of allergens on the brain.  To date, no other theory fits the data. 

When I returned to the US, I started the first leasing of EEG BF equipment for home use.  As you can imagine this did not endear me to the clinicians who were charging up to $250 per half hour for the service.  The actual operation is so simple that anyone with a high school education can easily learn how to do it, although the learned clinicians will (as usual) protest the necessity of a professional approach.  (This in spite of no record of harm being done to anyone, and no license being required to practice this simple therapy.) 

In 2001, Dr Jiri Tyrl of the Czech Biofeedback Society listed papers about EEG biofeedback that showed the following mental diseases as being either cured or greatly improved by this feedback:

 Epilepsy; ADD/ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Academic-Cognitive Enhancement; Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, Sleep Disorders, Depression, Hemispheric Asymmetry, Anger, Addictive Disorders, Brain Injury, Stroke, Coma, Spasticity, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Autoimmune Dysfunctions, Headache and other Pain, Schizophrenia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorders, Parkinson’s Dystonia, Tourette’s Syndrome, Autism; Cognitive Decline with Aging, Asthma Hypertension Dissociative Disorders, Creativity, Optimal Functioning, Criminal Recidivism.

This list was further proof (to me at least) that allergens were involved in much more mental disease that was suspected, and that this particular EEG biofeedback (now known as raising the SMR brain wave), DID somehow relieve this allergen susceptibility.  (Both my wife and I have either “cured” or alleviated lifelong allergies.)
 
In 2004, one of those comic light bulbs went on above my head, and I realized that it should be possible to do the same thing – namely raise the SMR brain wave – by use of subliminal messaging. 

I put out a call for volunteers, and got over 20, who sent me weekly emails for 4 weeks.  Most were various types of ADD/ADHD, with a few depressives and insomniacs mixed in.  The results definitely showed that both my allergen theory and my subliminal theory were correct. 

In 6 more volunteer tests since that time, we have shown that this therapy (named Neuroliminal Training) is at least as effective as EEG Biofeedback (aka Neurofeedback) for ADD/ADHD, depression, insomnia, autism, and epilepsy. 

We’re going even further with a current test that includes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, PTSD, Depression of all types, etc.  This test will end in January 2009.