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    • What We Want --- SAMHSA Grant Opportunities Due Jan. 22, 2019
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      • DECONSTRUCTING ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER AND PSYCHOPATHY: A GUIDELINES-BASED APPROACH TO PREJUDICIAL PSYCHIATRIC LABELS [Hofstra Law Review 2013]
      • Personality Disorders -- Unscientific & Vague -- Must Be Reformed
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      • OIG: STATE STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO CARE IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Sept. 2014)
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      • GAO 15-710: MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Actions Needed to Enhance CMS Oversight of Provider Network Adequacy (Aug. 2015)
      • CMS: Promoting Access in Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care: A Toolkit for Ensuring Provider Network Adequacy and Service Availability (April 2017)
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      • CMS Parity Compliance Toolkit Applying Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs [Jan. 17, 2017]
      • Frequently Asked Questions: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Final Rule for Medicaid and CHIP [CMS October 11, 2017]
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Working to Eliminate Homelessness & Criminal Justice Involvement of People with Cognitive Disabilities


  • Current Scientific Research
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Preview:  Olmstead Law & order Thursday

Mast cell activation Syndrome & Psychiatric disorders

Understanding the ramifications of Psychiatric Disorders as Neuro-immune Disorders​

Val's Take/Conjecture​
  • Preventing unnecessary institutionalization of people with Neuro-Developmental and Psychiatric Disorders will be more successful with better IMMUNE ASSESSMENTS.​​
  • Serious Mental Illness (SMI) --- is  SERIOUS -- but it is made  much more SERIOUS because our PARADIGMS and DIAGNOSTIC CATEGORIES are not tracking REALITY.
    • ​It's a DANGEROUS SITUATION that puts people AT RISK.
  • It is NO ACCIDENT that there are associations among Serious Mental Illness and ----
    • Auto-Immune Disease
    • Certain kinds of Cancer
    • Neuro-Degenerative Disease
    • Etc.
It is a MAJOR CHANGE to go from BRAIN DISORDER to DEVELOPMENTAL NEURO-IMMUNE DISORDER affecting MULTIPLE SYSTEMS of the Body.

That doesn't mean that everyone with a PSYCH DIAGNOSIS has every immune disorder ---- BUT there's much more of a CUMULATIVE EFFECT of Multiple Factors that individually might not be a big deal --- but taken together are overwhelming the body.
WHAT ARE MAST CELLS?​
​
Mast cells are a part of your immune system.

  • They’re made in your bone marrow, then move through your bloodstream into your tissues.

    The mature mast cells live in tissues throughout your body to help protect you from hazards around you.

    They can help fight infections and regulate your organs.


    When your mast cells are overprotective, you may react to harmless things in your environment. This happens in people with seasonal allergies or allergic asthma.

    Mast cell activation can sometimes cause anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction.


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​PHYSIOLOGICAL CORRELATIONS WITH GIFTEDNESS -- Gro-gifted.org
​Mast cell diseases–especially MCAS–are involved with many of the immune issues associated with RCCX/CAPS disorders.

Because mast cells are involved with every system in the body, MCAS symptoms can vary widely as can the severity of the syndrome.

Although many physicians were trained to find systemic mastocytosis, which is the most severe form of mast cell disease, they were not trained to find less severe forms of mast cell disease.

Symptoms of mast cell disease can be wide-ranging. For that reason, physicians and patients are often unable to pin down what caused a particular symptom.

Additionally, tests traditionally used for some of the symptoms of mast cell disease do not test for mast cell disease itself, but rather test for other causes of those symptoms.

. . . Because it appears that mast cell activation problems exist in the gifted population in greater frequency than in the general population, we urge those in the gifted populations with health issues not solved by drugs in those categories to discuss the possibility of mast cell activation problems with their doctors. . . 



​
Giftedness, Neuro-Diversity, Bipolar Disorder and Inflammation
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​Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome and Response to Mast-Cell-Directed Treatment: A Case Series
  (2023)
AbstractMast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) is an immune disease with an estimated prevalence of 17%.

Mast cell chemical mediators lead to heterogeneous multisystemic inflammatory and allergic manifestations.

This syndrome is associated with various neurologic and psychiatric disorders, including headache, dysautonomia, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and many others.

Although MCAS is common, it is rarely recognized, and thus, patients can suffer for decades.

The syndrome is caused by aberrant mast cell reactivity due to the mutation of the controller gene.

A case series is presented herein including eight patients with significant neuropsychiatric disorders that were often refractory to standard medical therapeutics.

Five patients had depression, five had generalized anxiety disorder, and four had panic disorder.

Other psychiatric disorders included attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, phobias, and bipolar disorder.

All eight patients were subsequently diagnosed with mast cell activation syndrome; six had comorbid autonomic disorders, the most common being postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; and four had hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

All patients experienced significant improvements regarding neuropsychiatric and multisystemic symptoms after mast-cell-directed therapy.

In neuropsychiatric patients who have systemic symptoms and syndromes, it is important to consider the presence of an underlying or comorbid MCAS.


Anti-Social Personality Disorder as a

​Neuro-Developmental Disability
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Associations of the immune system in aggression traits and the role of microglia as mediators (2024)
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Policy Challenges

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United Kingdom
Neurodiversity in criminal justice system - more effective support needed, say inspectorates
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'I felt like nobody had my back,' Employees raise concerns over incidents in mental health hospital unit

Pueblo Chieftain Uncovers A Mess
The Evil Society Games
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3 former employees of The Laradon School in Colorado file lawsuit, say they were sexually assaulted
Staffing

top pages

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Maternal Immune Activation
See also:  Maternal Immune Activation II
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Orchid Top 10 for May 2025 
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Intelligence as a Symptom
​At this time, we generally do not provide INDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY.  Further, we do not address Individual Requests for Information and Referral --- See the Orchid Indexes for OTHER RESOURCES.

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Crisis Services in Colorado, the US & Around the World

​Copyright 2025  Orchid Mental Health Legal Advocacy of Colorado, Inc.
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  • Home
    • About Orchid >
      • Why Orchid?
      • ORCHID'S SYSTEMIC FOCUS & "ROOT CAUSE" ANALYSIS APPROACH TO PROBLEM SOLVING WITH A COMMITMENT TO CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
      • Disclaimers, Limitations and An Invitation
      • Orchid Board
      • Orchid Book Club
      • Conjecture, Science & Translational Research & Medicine
      • Orchid Themes & Symbols
      • The Tipping Point
      • Orchid's Website Advertising Policy
      • Statement for Potential Website Contributors
      • Contact
  • Blogs
    • Val's Blog
    • Val's Blog 2
    • ​TRANSLATIONAL/ ​TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE MONDAY
    • NEURO-DIVERSITY Wednesday
    • Olmstead Law & Order Thursday
    • Translational Medicine Friday
    • Translational Love, Relationships & Neuro-Diversity Saturday
  • Orchid's A-Z Index
    • Crisis Services in CO, the US & Around the World
    • Assertive Community Treatment & Flexible ACT Index
    • Housing & Homelessness Index
    • Criminal Justice
    • Innovation Index
    • For More: See the Main Orchid Index Page
  • US Federal
    • THE IMD RULE & ADMIN. ENFORCEMENT OF DISABILITY CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS
    • Medicaid & Supportive Housing & Housing-Related Services
    • CMS' FAILURE TO COVER HOUSING FOR LTC & THE IMD RULE: WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON IS DISCRIMINATION
    • National Take
  • Research & Translational Medicine
    • Immunology & Mental Health >
      • Alcoholism & the Immune System & Mental Health
      • Brain Injury, the Immune System & Mental Health
      • Celiac Disease & Sensitivities, the Immune System & Mental Illness
      • Mental Illness & The Immune System
      • Racial Discrimination & the Immune System & Mental Health
      • Trauma & the Immune System & Mental Health
      • ***Physical Health Issues, the Immune System & Mental Health Index
    • University of Chicago: Institute of Translational Medicine
  • Hot Topics
    • What We Want --- SAMHSA Grant Opportunities Due Jan. 22, 2019
    • Anti-Social Personality Disorder >
      • DECONSTRUCTING ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER AND PSYCHOPATHY: A GUIDELINES-BASED APPROACH TO PREJUDICIAL PSYCHIATRIC LABELS [Hofstra Law Review 2013]
      • Personality Disorders -- Unscientific & Vague -- Must Be Reformed
    • Executive Functioning & "Prison Brain" >
      • Job Accommodation Network on Executive Functioning Deficits
    • Medicaid & Medicare Network Adequacy >
      • OIG: STATE STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO CARE IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Sept. 2014)
      • OIG: ACCESS TO CARE: PROVIDER AVAILABILITY IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Dec. 2014)
      • GAO 15-710: MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Actions Needed to Enhance CMS Oversight of Provider Network Adequacy (Aug. 2015)
      • CMS: Promoting Access in Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care: A Toolkit for Ensuring Provider Network Adequacy and Service Availability (April 2017)
    • Medicaid Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Parity >
      • CMS Parity Compliance Toolkit Applying Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs [Jan. 17, 2017]
      • Frequently Asked Questions: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Final Rule for Medicaid and CHIP [CMS October 11, 2017]
    • Olmstead Disability Rights >
      • Statement of the Department of Justice on Enforcement of the Integration Mandate of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Olmstead v. L.C. (2011)
      • Comprehensive Olmstead Planning
      • the Logical Long Term Consequences of our failure to provide Intensive Community MH Treatment
      • Olmstead Nation ---State Pages: How Far to Comply with Olmstead?
  • Take A Walk Around Orchid's Resource Block
  • Colorado Abuse & Neglect Scandals Involving People with Disabilities
  • Mental Health By The Numbers
  • New Science Is Amazing AND It Has HUGE Moral Implications for Our Society: NOW
  • Olmstead & Homelessness
  • Double V
  • " 'Defund the Police" Means 'Invest in the Resources Our Communities Need' " or Don't Cost Shift to the Police
  • VAGUE OLMSTEAD PLANS, EXPENSIVE LITIGATION
  • Updating & Reforming our Understanding & Treatment of "Anti-Social Personality Disorder" Blog
  • Reform of " Anti-Social Personality Disorder" in Criminal Justice
  • CO HB22-1278
  • New Understandings Matter
  • Mental Health, Ethics & Law
  • CO Olmstead Disability Homeless Law & Policy Project
  • Inflammation, the Immune System, Neuro-Developmental Disorders, Psychiatric Disorders, Substance Use Issues & Chronic Disease
  • Microglia and the Brain's Immune System
  • Substance Issues & the Immune System