[n0us]

I wonder how many mental illnesses are the result of imbalances in foreign organic matter/microbes/fungi/dietary issues and not issues fundamental to the brain itself?

[kawera]

An old but interesting article and discussion related to your question:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/1969/12/how-your-c...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3573694

Articles somehow related to the subject:

http://www.nature.com/news/the-tantalizing-links-between-gut...

http://universityofcalifornia.edu/news/do-gut-bacteria-rule-...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-second-brain/

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/21/4595712/gut-feelings-the-f...

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/changing-gut-bacteria-t...

[n0us]

Thanks for all of the sources. I remember listening to a talk on NPR about the same subject a while back in my car but I couldn't find a link to it.

[kawera]

Maybe this: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/07/02/15614221...

[tim333]

Schizophrenia is an interesting one showing a very high correlation with antibodies for a retrovirus called HERV-W which became part of the DNA of our pre-human ancestors about 60 million years ago and which has been passed down ever since.

http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jun/03-the-insanity-virus

[sitkack]

Exactly, we have lots of instances of other parts of the body becoming infected but brain sicknesses I think go untreated probably because they are hard to detect and the brain is so resilient.

[philipov]

I think it's a combination of it being difficult/expensive to get inside the brain, limiting such exploration to only the most severe cases, and also a latent bias in western culture to buy into Mind-Body Duality. The idea that the Mind is separate from the Body is still prevalent, and has an insidious effect on many people's judgement: even people who are trained otherwise.