One theory claims that the base of the brain is where the worst pathology is located in mental disease. This is by no means the only theory, but it is a good one. The basal ganglia are rich in dopamine.
A number of physical diseases with mental symptoms show pathology in the basal ganglia.
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Obsessive-compulsive psychosis was portrayed in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Lady Macbeth compulsively washed her hands to try to get rid of imaginary blood. "Out, out, damned spot."
Depression was portrayed in Hamlet. Hamlet's soliloquy began with "To be or not to be, that is the question." Hamlet contemplated suicide.
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Moliere depicted hypochondria in his comedy "The Hypochondriac." It is doubtful to make fun of this terrible disease, but the play ended with the patient becoming a doctor himself.
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Great psychiatrists dating back to Kraepelin have maintained that there is a strong hereditary factor. This view was shared by the brilliant chemist Linus Pauling.
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The neuron has been studied in these diseases. All kinds of abnormalities have been reported in the neuron, including destruction of the myelin sheath.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disease that has an environmental cause, but there may be a hereditary weakness in the brain's ability to handle stress. Some people endure terrible stress without getting this disease.
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Ultimately many of these problems are chemical. Linus Pauling suggested correcting the molecular environment for the brain. When there is a molecular cause, one might expect a molecular treatment. Amazingly, Pauling's theory was severely criticized by psychiatrists, although a few endorsed it. It seems that the psychiatrists did not like Pauling's suggestion of using natural body substances.
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The microscopic study of the cell has yielded many clues to these mysteries. These results support Pauling, but not Freud. Kraepelin severely blasted Freud, but Pauling never bothered to do so. E. Fuller Torrey has called Freud a "fraud". Shown here is Emil Kraepelin, taken from www.kraepelin.org, a site devoted to him.
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This is a cell. Chloroplasts are only found in plant cells. The other parts are of interest here. In particular, the mitochondrion is abnormal in mental disease.
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There is a theory that Winston Churchill had bouts of depression. He also had periods of tremendous energy. This theory was advocated by his son, who was a writer.
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