Kraepelin found an insidious respiratory defect in thousands of patients with Manic Depressive Insanity. This defect could be congenital, or it could be an acquired defect, say from hidden damage to the inner throat from intubation, affecting the flow of air into and out of the body and thus interfering with the proper balance and pressure of the endogenous gaseous metabolite carbon dioxide in the blood.
He found this by doing years of hard experimental observations, following patients throughout their lives, by meticulous examination, measurement and recording of their vital signs, including the counting of respirations in one minute. People were not happy with his findings. Doctors weren’t happy with his findings. They were and still are upsetting.
It suggested that nothing could be done to help these patients….at least – not yet. Dr Kraepelin kept his eye on the future; he practiced during the Golden Era of Science, the start of medical science which would make it possible to cure many diseases that killed many or made them disabled.
Today lots of patients with all kinds of injuries, defects, organ damage causing progressive organ failure are helped to live good quality lives with modern supportive medical care , medication and other inventions. Lots of patients with lots of illnesses. But not seriously ill and incapacitated neuropsychiatric patients, because the revolution in medical science has left these patients behind- in the care of doctors who ignore measurement of vital signs, who have distain for biological processes, and dislike bodily fluids, and bodily secretions in favour of useless talk and hit or miss treatments with chemicals that have simplistic names…such as antipsychotics, or antidepressants, etc…..because they have no clue what they do or when they work or how they affect the rest of the body [often to the detriment of normal metabolism- but they do not understand metabolism either, so..]
And they will not see if bipolar patients have a respiratory defect which is most clearly seen in depressive insanity attacks because why? Why not? Even though they are not helping most severely ill people with altered mental status [ altered mental status with dysphoria/euphoria being a common sign of hypercapnia due to respiratory defects making normal breathing harder]. in the 21st century? Letting these patients remain impaired and not even looking at signs that are measurable, easy to test and can suggest cures. [cures that cannot fix the respiratory defect, but can improve mood, state and restore baseline mental status and dreams and quality of life.
Why won’t they try? Don’t they care about these patients? Wouldn’t they wish to restore their health as much as possible, even though it would mean admitting that they were fools?
Albert Einstein is widely credited with saying, “The definition of insanity [in science] is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
He is correct! And they are fools.
Of Sound Mind 