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Also included on the site is an array of articles on topics ranging from the medical causes of schizophrenia to the effects of toxic metals on mental health.

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A bookstore page lists top books that cover many areas of alternative treatments with titles like Natural Healing for Schizophrenia and Other Common Mental Disorders and No More Ritalin.

AlternativeMentalHealth.com has been created to educate the public, practitioners, and government officials on the medical conditions that create "mental illness" and the many safe resources available for addressing and often curing severe mental symptoms.

I asked the question which is ever-present at Safe Harbor: Was he given a thorough examination by a competent practitioner who knew to look for the underlying cause(s) of his behavior? The answer: "Not really."

So before the son was shipped off, I suggested the parents try that first. A few days later, I spoke with the mother and the clouds of gloom were gone. They had taken their son to the favorite family practitioner, a crackerjack nutritionist. She had found the young man had three severe deficiencies, hormonally and nutritionally. The son was greatly relieved to find he wasn't just "crazy" and was eager to cooperate with a treatment program.

This concept of doing a full searching exam on anyone with mental symptoms is THE most ignored step in mental health treatment. When Safe Harbor did a study of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, we found that NONE of the more than 100,000 outpatients received exams unless a medical emergency was present.

Even in private psychiatric practice, failure to do full exams is a legendary area of neglect and has been so for decades, even though psychiatric journals clearly show the vital importance of it.

If you add on top of that the fact that even when exams ARE done, orthodox doctors almost never look for food allergies, toxic conditions, nutritional imbalances, and a host of other things that complementary practitioner have found can cause mental disturbances - you begin to see the level of failed diagnosis and misdiagnosis that goes on in the field of mental health.

It appears to be an amazingly hard lesson to learn, but learn it we must or the suffering of countless individuals - and their families - will continue.

Simply send us an email to SafeHarborProj@aol.com, saying you wish to be on the SafeHarbor2 list.

Of course, feel free to pass this information along to anyone looking for or needing a holistic mental health support group.

We will have a support group meeting from 7 PM to 8 PM and the talk and a question-and-answer period will last from 8 PM to 9 PM. The talk is free and all are invited.

The lecture will be Wednesday, January 8, 2003, at the Safe Harbor office at 1718 Colorado Blvd. in the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles.

Admission is free and all are invited. We ask that you call the Safe Harbor office or email to let us know you are coming: (323) 257-7338 or SafeHarborProj@aol.com. 

When the body is under bacterial attack, the immune system responds by producing antibodies that attack the infection. If the invading bacteria mimic normal healthy tissue, could the antibodies mistakenly attack healthy tissue? This hypothesis has been offered by some researchers to explain PANDAS. One way to assess or measure this problem, is by specialized blood tests.

(As we see in an article below, a similar "friendly fire" hypothesis has been offered by at least one researcher in connection with anorexia.)

The relationship between strep infections, rheumatic fever, and chorea (a group of disorders involving involuntary movement and lack of coordination) dates back to Sydenham's description back in the 17th century. It was observed in the 1950's that some children, months after a bout of rheumatic fever, developed a movement disorder known as Sydenham's chorea or "St. Vitus Dance" (rapid, aimless, involuntary movements of the muscles of the limbs, face, and trunk). These children were found to have elevated levels of antibodies to this type of streptococcal infection.

Current findings of researchers active in investigating PANDAS were presented at the American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry conference in Oct. 2002. Here are some brief excerpts of conference coverage:

"Postinfectious autoimmune disorders in response to Streptococcus infections were confirmed in the 1950s. Rheumatic fever (RF) was the prototype disorder and Sydenham chorea (SC) was identified, not only as a criteria for the diagnosis of RF but also as a stand-alone manifestation of the potential for a central nervous system autoimmune response. SC can have a mix of both motor and psychiatric manifestations, including hyperactivity, mood lability and, in severe cases, psychosis. Behavioral symptoms often precede the motor manifestations and can include obsessive-compulsive features. On average, SC lasts about 6 months...

"Swedo and colleagues first proposed that some cases of childhood-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) might be, like SC, a post-strep disorder of immune character. They coined the acronym PANDAS to identify the occurrence of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. This is a disorder of prepubertal children with sudden and dramatic onset of OCD post-streptococcal infection.

"Dr. Susan Swedo, from the Pediatric Developmental and Neuropsychiatry branch of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), presented that these children have a remarkably episodic course with remitting and relapsing OCD symptom severity. Her criteria for a PANDAS presentation also require the presence of associated neurologic problems. These are usually 'choreiform' (resembling chorea) movements, which, by definition, are not full-blown SC. In fact, these are often subtle movements. They do not interfere with voluntary motor control and may only be elicited with careful observation of the extended hand/fingers. Such movements were present in 25 of 26 children seen during an exacerbation of their OCD symptoms in the early studies at NIMH...

"Dr. Swedo reported that there was an initial sense by clinicians that a larger spectrum of psychiatric disorders (e.g., attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, anorexia nervosa) might also be placed under the PANDAS rubric. However, she feels strongly that this subgroup classification should be reserved, at this time, for OCD and tic disorders."

"Dr. Harry Hill, Infectious Disease specialist and Streptococcus researcher at the University of Utah School of Medicine, reported that the current "rapid" streptococcal screens used in most clinics are perfectly acceptable for proving the presence of the Streptococcus if positive. However, if the rapid screen is negative, this is not a true indication of the absence of infection. A full plate culture needs to be done."

"Finally, the question of how much of "typical" OCD may have its genesis in postinfectious etiology is a tantalizing one. Given the interest of psychiatry and child psychiatry in finding clear etiologies for many disorders, the possibilities of viral and bacterial contributions to currently poorly understood disorders and their exacerbations make the evolving PANDAS story a model for all clinicians to watch."

Paraphrased from Frequently Asked Questions on the NIMH website:

Q. Is there a test for PANDAS?

A. No. PANDAS is a clinical diagnosis, which means that there are no lab tests that can diagnose PANDAS. Clinicians use 5 diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of PANDAS:

1. Presence of Obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or a tic disorder
2. Onset of symptoms in childhood
3. Episodic course of symptom severity
4. Association with group A Beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection (a positive throat culture for strep or history of Scarlet Fever)
5. Association with neurological abnormalities (motoric hyperactivity, tics).

Q. What does an elevated anti-streptococcal antibody titer mean? Is this bad for my child?

A. An elevated anti-strep titer [concentration in a sample] means the child has had a strep infection sometime within the past few months, and his body created antibodies to fight the strep bacteria. This is a normal, healthy response. "Positive" antibody titers may persist for many months after the infection goes away.

Q. Will Penicillin treat PANDAS?

A. No. In PANDAS, it appears that antibodies produced by the body in response to the strep infection are the cause of the problem, not the bacteria themselves. Therefore one could not expect antibiotics such as penicillin to treat the symptoms of PANDAS.

The NIMH is researching plasma exchange and antibiotic prophylaxis (preventive use of antibiotics) as two possible treatment regimens for PANDAS.  

"An amazing body of work, a great inspiration and a vital message that has the potential to transform an entire area of health care" was the verdict of the judges who award 'the Oscars' of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) world, sponsored by Britain's leading CAM supplier, the Nutri Centre.

Based on her own continuing recovery from mental and physical ill health, Amanda founded the Food and Mood Project in conjunction with Mind, the mental health charity in 1998, and is delighted to receive both the recognition of the CAM Award and the £1,000 prize money.

"There has been a huge interest in 'food and mood' right from the start of the Project nearly five years ago. It's been a lot of hard work but I know that the Food and Mood Project has made a real difference to the lives of a lot of people", said Amanda Geary, Food and Mood Project Founder.

During 2002 the Food and Mood Project conducted a national 'food and mood survey' of 200 people which received national media coverage, co-presented a groundbreaking Food and Mood conference and provided workshops, information and advice to hundreds of individuals with mental or emotional health problems (many of whom, due to long-term illness are on low incomes).

Publications include The Food and Mood Handbook, the Food and Mood Self-help Report, and an informative website (www.foodandmood.org) that hosts a 'Food and Mood' email group and features a list of nutritional therapists in England who are able to provide professional support to individuals.

"There are so many possibilities for taking this work forward, but more research and expanding the Food and Mood Project website both feature in the strategic plan. It's now a question of managing the growth so that it's sustainable and continues to serve the needs of the individuals the Project intends to help," said Amanda.

For more information contact the Food and Mood Project on 01273 478108 or email: info@foodandmood.org. 

In 1977, Barbara Reed, then chief probation officer in a municipal court, reported to a US Senate Select Committee on nutrition and human needs on her experience with 318 offenders. Of 252 offenders who required attention to their diet and vitamin needs, not a single one was back in court for offences if they had remained on an appropriate diet accompanied by vitamin supplementation. Reed ended her report by saying, "Never before has the court had such a tool for working with the many ill people who find themselves in court. We wonder what the results would be if this method of treatment could be applied to all those sentenced to jail."

Lonsdale reported the case of an individual who committed a petty crime for which he was found guilty and sent to jail. This was in spite of the fact that diet and supplementary vitamins had corrected a complex set of biochemical changes that confirmed that he had been a sick man at the time that the crime was committed. He had felt unwell for years, and had noted his tendency to "blind rages" after intake of alcohol and his constant tendency to become angered easily. The biochemical abnormalities had disappeared after his nutritional rehabilitation. A double-blind trial with thiamine disulfide was shown to be more effective in alcoholics than the usual and customary treatment that they received in a residential and correctional institution.

Americans consume more than 400 million cups of coffee every 24 hours, representing 50 tons of caffeine. Although this drug is responsible for a large amount of functional illness, including mood swings and irritability, it is frequently overlooked as a cause of illness. We can assume that an irritable criminal might be more capable of a "hot" crime. Could the ingestion of soda have played a part in the O.J. fiasco? Meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous are punctuated with the availability of ad lib coffee, which may promote a continuation of craving for alcohol; it certainly promotes craving for nicotine. Statistics of this nature emphasize the fact that little thought is given to biology as an underlying cause of the menace that haunts our contemporary society.  

In a study reported in December 2002, Serguei Fetissov of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm found that three-quarters of the anorexic and bulimic women studied carry blood antibodies targeted against appetite centres in the brain. Just 16% of those without eating disorders had such antibodies.

The antibodies may block the response of nerves to hormones that control hunger, Fetissov says, and so contribute to eating problems. If so, diagnosis could be improved on the basis of the presence of the antibodies.

Neuroscientist James McNamara of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and others have said that some cases of epilepsy and of the sleep disorder narcolepsy might also be attributed to wrongly aimed antibodies. "My suspicion is that a subset of many common nervous-system disorders could be auto-immune in nature," he says.

Recent studies have suggested that some people carry a genetic susceptibility to anorexia. This could, for example, encourage the immune system to turn on its own tissues.

Alternatively, Fetissov speculates that prolonged or acute stress in anorexics might stimulate the immune attack. One of the misdirected antibodies detected by the team is aimed at adrenocorticotropic hormone, which is released in response to stress.

But the team has yet to show whether the suspect antibodies actually cause the eating disorders, or are simply a symptom of them.  

"Many published activist accounts refer to feelings of encouragement and confidence emerging from experiences of collective action," says Dr Drury. "But it is not always clear how and why such empowerment occurs, so we aimed to explain what factors within a collective action event contribute most to such feelings."

The study involved in-depth interviews with nearly 40 activists from a variety of backgrounds, in which over 160 experiences of collective action were described.

"The main factors contributing to a sense of empowerment were the realization of the collective identity, the sense of movement potential, unity and mutual support within a crowd," says Dr Drury.

"However, what was also interesting was the centrality of emotion in the accounts. Empowering events were almost without exception described as joyous occasions. Participants experienced a deep sense of happiness and even euphoria in being involved in protest events. Simply recounting the events in the interview itself brought a smile to the faces of the interviewees."

Psychologists have become increasingly interested in the role of positive experiences and emotions not just in making people feel good but also in promoting psychological and physical health. Uplifting experiences are associated with a variety of indicators of well-being, such as speed of physiological recovery; ability to cope with physical stressors; and the reduction of pain, anxiety and depression.  

Although primarily aimed at women, with special chapters on hormones and female anatomy, most of the book applies to either gender so male readers will benefit as well.

The reader gets a truly rare, well-documented glimpse of the journey of a father, educated in the medical model of psychiatry and the "need" for drugs, as his research and observations slowly but clearly demonstrate to him that bipolar disorder is not a vague "mental illness of unknown etiology" but has definite, treatable causes, including nutritional imbalances, fatty acid deficiencies, and Lyme Disease. Moyer tells of his enlightening experience through trying the TrueHope supplements (www.truehope.com) on his son and finding a light at the end of the tunnel.