Dr. William Walsh's Comprehensive Theory (Explaining the Cause of Bipolar, the Reason For Switching From Mania to Depression & Treatment Implications) Shared at the Society of Neuroscience
This past week, I had the privilege of attending the Advanced Course for Walsh-Trained Practitioners. Over 1,200 practitioners from 75 countries have been trained in the Walsh approach. For those unfamiliar, the Walsh Research Institute, founded by Dr. William Walsh, has analyzed the nutrient levels of more than 30,000 individuals experiencing brain-related symptoms. Their findings reveal a surprisingly small set of recurring nutrient imbalances—such as low zinc, elevated copper, high pyrroles, and methylation irregularities—that frequently appear. Addressing these imbalances has led to significant, and sometimes dramatic, improvements in individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, panic, obsessions, compulsions, inattention, brain fog, hyperactivity, autism, dementia, psychosis, and mood swings. However, bipolar disorder presents a unique challenge due to its alternating neurotransmitter states between mania and depression. More than nine million Americans are currently diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a serious condition often associated with substance abuse, financial or legal difficulties, strained relationships, instability at work or school, and an increased risk of suicide attempts or suicide. The course of the illness typically begins with an acute onset, progressing to recurrent episodes of mania and depression that often worsen in severity over time. In this post, I will describe bipolar disorder and use Dr. Walsh’s Comprehensive Theory of Bipolar Disorder—recently presented at the Society for Neuroscience—to explain:
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Attachment, Microbiome, Undermethylation, Low Zinc, Oxidative Stress, Mold Toxicity, Mast Cell Activation, RCCX Theory, Upper Cervical Instability, Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, Left & Right Brain
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” ― Lao Tzu In this episode, I share my personal journey through illness and healing and how it has influenced my approach as a holistic psychiatrist. My hope for everyone listening is that your pursuit of health, happiness, or whatever it is you’re seeking brings you to a place of peace—and inspires a desire to support others on their own journeys.
Data, Contributing Factors, Undermethylation, When Strengths Relate to Vulnerabilities, Self Reliance, a Medical Culture That Keeps Physicians From Seeking Help & What Can Be Done
It’s easy to overlook that medical professionals are vulnerable to stress, burnout, and both physical and mental health issues. Despite the expectation that they remain well, physicians experience higher rates of depression, and the rate of physician suicide is twice that of the general population. In this newsletter, I’ll explore how biochemical and environmental factors play a role in both the strengths and vulnerabilities of doctors. While the focus is on physicians, much of what I’ll discuss also applies to other medical professionals and caregivers.
Key topics include:
Why Love is Not Enough, Cultural Differences, Nazi Parenting Manual, Cycle of Abuse, Narcissistic Family Dynamic, Family Stress, Poor Quality Day Care, Screen Media
By Courtney Snyder, MD In a recent newsletter, I explored how our early attachment experiences—particularly those within our first three years—shape our autonomic nervous system, stress responses, sense of self-worth, expectations of others, and worldview. While we may not consciously “remember” these early years, the experiences of our infant and toddler selves live on in our neurophysiology. They influence how we handle stress, regulate emotions, connect with others, and perceive ourselves.
Our culture often frames early life experiences in simplistic terms: either all good or all bad. We tend to think, "We were either abused, raised in an institution or foster care, or we weren't. Our parents either loved us or they didn't."
In this newsletter, I’ll delve deeper into:
Around 25% of people may be susceptible to mold toxicity, a surprisingly prevalent cause of various brain symptoms, such as brain fog, fatigue, depression, anxiety, mood swings, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, and even psychosis. Mold toxicity can also be a hidden factor in conditions like pyrrole disorder, candida overgrowth, and copper-zinc imbalances, all of which can contribute to neurological and psychiatric symptoms.
Mold toxicity should be considered a potential cause when college students develop new mental health issues after being exposed to mold in their dorms or apartments. It can also lead to various chronic physical health problems, including autoimmune conditions. Based on my experience, mold toxicity is the most frequent cause of mast cell activation syndrome.
Jerry Parker, a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant (CIEC) and Certified Microbial Remediator (CMR), has been a great resource to me both personally and professionally, providing valuable insights into the environmental factors related to mold. He owns Environmental Solutions Group, LLC, a company that has been serving residential and commercial clients for over 20 years. Jerry is now preparing to launch a new educational and consulting platform, 4 Indoor Air Quality LLC.
In this newsletter and video podcast, Jerry and I explore:
In a future episode, Jerry and I will delve into mold prevention with a specific focus on the interior of our homes.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
The Zinc Link, Skin Symptoms of Common "Roots" of Brain Symptoms, Acne Treatment & Thinking Holistically. Skin conditions are frequently observed in individuals with brain-related disorders. Most discussions about this connection suggest that one condition might cause the other. For example, it is commonly believed that the stress of dealing with a skin condition can lead to depression and anxiety — a logical conclusion. Conversely, the stress of a mental health condition may elevate stress hormones or cause inflammation, resulting in skin symptoms, which also makes sense. In this podcast, I will explore the idea that skin and brain symptoms often share common underlying causes — with one key root in particular. By "brain symptoms," I mean conditions like depression, anxiety, panic, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), brain fog, inattention, hyperactivity, mood swings, psychosis, and cognitive decline.
I will cover:
This episode aims to shed light on how these interrelated factors contribute to both skin and brain symptoms, helping you better understand the importance of identifying and addressing the common roots.
Understanding Smart Meters and EMF Exposure: Insights from Eric Windheim
Eric Windheim, BA, BBEC, EMRS, RFSO, is a Certified Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist and Building Biology Environmental Consultant. As the founder of Windheim Solutions, he specializes in inspecting, testing, and remediating harmful electromagnetic fields (EMFs). In this episode, we explore the topic of smart meters—digital devices that measure real-time electricity usage and wirelessly transmit this data to utility companies. Smart meters are also sometimes used for gas and water monitoring.
Smart meters primarily emit radio frequencies, one of the four harmful types of electromagnetic fields, alongside electric fields, magnetic fields, and dirty electricity. EMF exposure has been linked to a variety of brain symptoms, such as insomnia, memory issues, irritability, depression, personality changes, inattention, fatigue, confusion, headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, numbness, and tingling.
Problematic EMFs impact the brain in multiple ways, contributing to oxidative stress, neurotoxicity, immune system disruption, hormonal imbalances, microbiome disturbances, and compromising the blood-brain barrier. EMFs can even elevate blood sugar levels. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to reduce exposure. In this newsletter: Eric shares:
We discuss:
By Courtney Snyder, MD
A Conversation About High Copper, Low Zinc, Pyrrole Disorder & Methylation Imbalances - Symptoms, Traits, Testing & Treatment I recently had the pleasure of joining Annika Taylor, a holistic health practitioner, on the Nourished By Nature: Mind Body Wellness Podcast. After sharing my journey into holistic psychiatry and defining what it means, Annika and I explored the following topics:
We also discussed a recent finding by Dr. Walsh that undermethylation is on the rise in the population, while overmethylation appears to be decreasing. Related Resources: Annika Taylor - nourishedbynature.com Walsh Research Institute For links to specific topics address see links in the description above.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. In this newsletter and podcast episode, I focus on the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s. Because this condition starts prior to the onset of symptoms, and because having almost any psychiatric condition appears to raise our vulnerability, many of the tools mentioned relate to other brain symptoms and conditions as well. “What we call Alzheimer's disease is actually a protective response to a wide variety of insults to the brain: inflammation, insulin resistance, toxins, infections, and inadequate levels of nutrients, hormones, and growth factors.” - Dale Bredesen, MD (The End of Alzheimer’s Program: The First Protocol to Enhance Cognition and Reverse Decline at Any Age)
In this newsletter, I’ll discuss:
Resources mentioned:
By Courtney Snyder, MD
Protecting Our Brain Early Starting With Understanding the Role of Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, Insulin Resistance, a Potential Microbial Presence & APOe4 Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that involves the gradual death of brain cells, leading to the loss of brain tissue. The changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s dementia can start up to 20 years before symptoms appear. This is crucial because emerging research and clinical experience in functional medicine suggest that many of the contributing factors can be influenced before symptoms progress. In this newsletter and podcast episode, I’ll explore:
In the next episode, I’ll delve into mainstream treatments and explore functional, integrative, and holistic approaches that target blood sugar regulation, oxidative stress, inflammation, and even mold and candida as potential contributors. Mentioned Resources: Other Related Newsletters: Medical Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
The Benefits, Risks, and How to Improve Functional Medicine. What is Functional Medicine? Functional Medicine is an integrative, biology-based approach that promotes healing and wellness by focusing on the biochemically unique aspects of each patient, utilizing individually tailored interventions to restore balance. This approach seeks to understand the fundamental physiological processes, environmental factors, and genetic predispositions that affect health and disease, addressing the root causes. In Functional Medicine Psychiatry, these interventions aim to promote healing and wellness for individuals experiencing brain-related symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, mood swings, fatigue, brain fog, hyperactivity, cognitive impairment, social communication deficits, and psychosis.
In this Newsletter, I’ll explore:
By Courtney Snyder, MD
If you’re like I was, you might feel both drawn to and resistant to starting a meditation practice. My many attempts to begin and then stop were less about meditation itself and more about not prioritizing self-care. For many of us, learning to sit still in silence—and often in solitude—can be challenging. Our minds may chatter nonstop about things we’d rather not confront: the to-do lists, worries, ruminations, irritations, regrets, "should haves" and "shouldn't haves," "what ifs," things we said or did, things others said or did, judgments, and even judgments about those judgments. Our attachment to how we believe things should be is a significant part of our suffering.
All forms of meditation aim to guide our minds (and bodies) away from day-to-day thoughts and into the present moment. Since the sights and sounds around us often distract our minds, most meditation practices involve removing these stimuli by sitting in a quiet place with our eyes closed.
Even in a quiet setting, the mind will wander, especially in the beginning. This is why many meditation practices encourage us to focus on something—like our breath, a phrase, or an image. The goal is to gently bring our attention back to this anchor whenever we notice the mind drifting. If you’re interested in starting a meditation practice, don’t let the variety of options make you think there is a "best" or "right" way to meditate. The best meditation practice is the one that makes you think, “Okay, I could see myself doing that.” The right way is simply to begin. The common thread in all meditation practices is learning to be present. To do this, we use something to anchor us in the moment. What differentiates various types of meditation is simply the anchor that is chosen.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
I look forward to the day when reducing exposure to Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) becomes as standard as other basic health practices, such as getting enough sleep and exercise, managing stress, and limiting or avoiding sugar. In the meantime, I hope to convince you in this newsletter why reducing EMF exposure is a smart choice for your improving and maintaining your health. I’ll cover:
As you’ll see, these vulnerabilities often overlap with those associated with brain conditions and chronic complex illnesses.
When I refer to “EMF,” I’m focusing on the more concerning types: radio frequencies, magnetic and electric fields, and dirty electricity. For simplicity, I’ll discuss these collectively, though much of the latest research emphasizes radio frequencies (such as those from cell phones, WiFi, and SMART or wireless technology).
By Courtney Snyder, MD
Typically, with two-part newsletters, I first explain how a "root" cause contributes to brain symptoms and then, in the follow-up, discuss actionable steps. However, because the topic of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) can be anxiety-provoking for some, and there is already a lot of alarming content in functional medicine, I decided to begin with practical ways to assess and reduce EMF exposure. In the next newsletter, I'll dive into the research on how EMF impacts the brain and other parts of the body, the factors that increase susceptibility to EMF hypersensitivity, and strategies to lower that susceptibility.
EMF exists on a spectrum that includes ultraviolet (UV) light, visible light, infrared, and more. In this newsletter, I am focusing on:
Most of the interventions I’ll cover are related to radio frequencies (RF), which are increasingly prevalent and considered the most harmful.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
10 Ideas for Increasing Mental Clarity, Energy, and a Sense of Calm. In the last newsletter, we explored how our hormonal stress response can activate mast cells and microglial cells and disrupt neuronal communication leading to symptoms like brain fog, fatigue, depression, anxiety, mood swings, and in some cases, hallucinations. We live in an increasingly inflammatory world—with more toxins, disruptions to the microbiome, and societal pressures from marketing and media. At the same time, factors that naturally lower stress and reduce inflammation—such as human connection, silence, solitude, and time in nature—are becoming scarce.
The good news is that we have choices. Supporting brain health and overall well-being is about returning to the basics of our humanity—the practices we naturally crave and that help restore balance. In this newsletter, we’ll focus on how to reconnect with these essentials to reduce stress and inflammation for better mental health.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
While rarely discussed in psychiatry, our ability to accept the inevitable uncertainty of life is crucial to our overall well-being. In this newsletter, I will explore:
By Courtney Snyder, MD
Whether it's an older child with frequent tantrums or an adult who easily loses their temper, I view angry outbursts as a symptom pointing to deeper root causes. While external triggers may play a role, an individual’s inability to regulate emotions often indicates an underlying biochemical or inflammatory issue. In this newsletter, I'll explore:
By Courtney Snyder, MD
How Viewing Schizophrenia as a Single Condition Limits the Development and Recognition of Effective Treatments. “If things are not so good, you maybe want to imagine something better." John Forbes Nash, Jr. Many know John Nash, Jr. as the brilliant mathematician portrayed by Russell Crowe in the movie "A Beautiful Mind." While the film doesn’t stay true to Nash’s real story, it does effectively depict his descent into psychosis and severe chronic mental illness.
Schizophrenia affects 1 in 300 people, or about 24 million people worldwide (2.6 million in the U.S.), and remains the most treatment-resistant psychiatric condition.
In this newsletter, using Nash's story as a reference, I will discuss:
Most people with schizophrenia are not brilliant mathematicians or Nobel Laureates; many are homeless. I reference Nash's story because it is widely known and because he likely had the most common form of schizophrenia--undermethylation (shared by 70% of those with this condition). Here are my 10 insights on schizophrenia.
The Shakers' philosophy revolved around three concepts: Honesty. Functionality. Simplicity. I took these photos at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, here in Kentucky.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
“Our lives are frittered away by detail…Simplify. Simplify.” - Henry David Thoreau. This quote, with its sense of urgency, serves as a powerful reminder of our mortality. It is one of my favorite quotes because it also brings a sense of comfort, a sigh of relief, and the permission to prioritize what truly matters in life.
There are many ways to simplify our lives, and one effective approach is by reassessing the items in our spaces. In this post, I'll explore how making changes to our external environment can lead to internal transformations, particularly when we feel lost, stressed, anxious, down, or stuck. A "space" could be anything—a drawer, the top of our desk, our car, our closet, or even a box we've stored away. This isn't about minimalism or neatness; it's about shifting from a left-brain mindset driven by accumulation and consumption to a right-brain perspective focused on the bigger picture of our lives.
Having pondered this topic for the past 15 years, I'm sharing 10 insights from both past and present.
By Courtney Snyder, MD
Meet the cluster of genes that may be at root of many psychiatric conditions and complex chronic illness, MCAS, EDS, POTS, CIRS & CFS. Meet the RCCX gene cluster — a group of genes that may lie at the root of many psychiatric conditions and complex chronic illnesses, including mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Hypermobility, characterized by joints that bend beyond the normal range, is surprisingly common among individuals with brain-related symptoms. Using RCCX theory, I will explore why this connection exists.
Although this topic is complex, it is worth understanding. While hypermobility can be a red flag for an RCCX vulnerability, this theory can provide insights into brain symptoms, whether or not you are hypermobile.
I won’t revisit my personal health journey here — which I detailed in the 2017 blog post, "Hypermobility, RCCX Theory, and One Journey From Illness Towards Wholeness." However, if you've followed my writing, you know that I have been affected by many factors: undermethylation with a seemingly slow MAOA gene, copper overload, mast cell activation, candida overgrowth, mold toxicity, hypermobility with upper cervical instability, and electromagnetic hypersensitivity. My health history is actually not unique. Many people suffer from what we refer to as chronic complex illness. Someone who has significantly impacted my understanding is Dr. Sharon Meglathery, M.D., a psychiatrist and internist with a health history similar to mine. We first connected in 2017, and her RCCX theory offers a compelling explanation for both chronic complex illnesses and psychiatric conditions in many individuals, regardless of hypermobility. RCCX theory is particularly useful in understanding how a person who was previously healthy can develop a range of health issues, including brain symptoms such as depression, anxiety, panic, mood swings, and psychosis, following severe stressors or toxic exposures. |
Courtney Snyder, MDFor anyone experiencing brain symptoms. This blog (and weekly newsletter) is your guide to demystifying root causes and learning about surprising paths to healing. From a holistic - functional adult and child psychiatrist dedicated to helping people heal and thrive. Categories
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