The seasonal variation in bipolar symptoms may be a dysregulation of ancient survival mechanisms for energy allocation, similar to hibernation or migratory restlessness seen in animals.

Large data studies show that insulin resistance in early life is a predictive marker for the future onset and severity of psychiatric conditions.

A pilot study using functional MRI showed that a ketogenic diet significantly reduced brain glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, in bipolar patients, suggesting a calming effect on the brain.

The experience of bipolar depression is not just sadness, but a physiological crisis of suppressed energy that feels like being indefinitely paused in a state of complete exhaustion after running a marathon.

For some with bipolar disorder, a ketogenic diet can feel like the lights in the brain are clicking back on, providing mental clarity and emotional stability for the first time.

Viewing mental illness as a neurotransmitter imbalance is like adjusting the air conditioning when the car's engine is on fire; the root cause is a fundamental disruption in energy metabolism.

Lithium, a primary medication for bipolar disorder, may work by targeting the body's insulin signaling network, suggesting the drug is bluntly addressing an underlying metabolic problem.

The current diagnostic system for mental illness is like using the wrong map for the territory because it only describes symptoms without identifying the underlying biological root causes.

Elevated lactate, a marker of mitochondrial dysfunction and the same substance that causes muscle soreness, has been observed in the brains of psychiatric patients for decades.