Struggling with Mental Health? Try Genetics Testing

[Magik]

In September 2014, I crashed hard. When I say crashed, I mean serious depression: no energy, no hope, low self esteem, etc. I had been working on Fastlane ideas, and had failed (or thought I had failed). I did a lot of things wrong, one being quitting a job before having any sales. One thing I knew I had to do was go back to working a slowlane job. The other thing I knew I had to do was see a therapist. I figured maybe a therapist could help me make some sense of the mess I had made. The thing is, I didn't know I was depressed until she told me; Looking back, it should have been obvious. She recommended that I go see a doctor, and soon I was on an SSRI, or anti-depressant. The SSRI helped me some, but as the months went by, I realized that I still didn't feel as good as I should have; I felt like something was missing.

Fast forward to 2018. I had been reading up on the advances of genetic testing. I had been seeing a psychiatrist for a few years, but still didn't feel like I was making any progress. My dad convinced me to go see his psychiatrist, who once was a brain surgeon, and I had my first visit October of last year. I had heard about how good he was, and I knew my dad was intelligent and wouldn't BS me, so I "fired" my psychiatrist and went to see him instead.

I had genetics testing done with the focus on mental health. Basically, they swabbed the inside of my mouth and mailed it off to a company who specializes in genetics testing of this type. The report was ready about 6 weeks later and I downloaded it, because I was curious. The report was difficult to understand. They made some inferences, but nothing absolute, and lots of medical terms I didn't understand. Truthfully, I shouldn't have downloaded it because the report is for doctors to interpret, not patients. February 1 was the day I showed up to hopefully find out what the hell was the matter with me.

The report showed many different things. One thing I found out is that my body lacks the enzyme to convert folic acid into methylfolate. Methylfolate has multiple functions, one being that it is a cofactor needed to synthesize dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Apparently, around 7 out of 10 people who suffer from long term depression have this deficiency. The test also showed that SNRIs (a different type of anti-depressant) work better for me than SSRIs. The biggest thing that I found out is that my calcium channels and sodium channels showed "altered neuronal signaling" and that my glutamate receptor would "likely respond to treatment". My glutamate levels were too high, which is indicative of some form of Bipolar Disorder. Gaba and glutamate are neurotransmitters that don't get talked about much. If you think of your body as a car, Glutamate acts like a gas pedal and Gaba acts like a brake; mine were out of balance. I also found out what medications will work best for me and which ones to avoid, and also which parts of my brain work as they should. I found out all of this by having my mouth swabbed, the swab sent to a lab for testing, and by my brilliant doctor who understands the brain better than anyone I've ever met interpret the test.

For almost 8 months, I've been on a methylfolate supplement and a mood stabilizer. The mood stabilizer has to be stepped up in 25mg increments, so I'm just now getting close to the right dosage. Now it's almost October, and I feel so much better, maybe better than I have my entire life; However, there's still a lot for me to do. I feel like I'm much further behind than I should be. I have debt, I still work crappy jobs I hate, I still have days where I don't feel that great. I also have realized that some of the choices I've made in life have made my problems worse. But I'm still here, and I'm ready to start taking swings again. I haven't sat around doing nothing the last 5 years though. I got back into recording music again, I've advanced tremendously as a guitar and bass player, and my knowledge of music theory and the process of working with music and audio has improved. I had to have something positive to focus on, something where I could just try to be better than I was yesterday, and I also knew that these skills could be used to serve a marketplace, in some form or fashion. Now I am in the process of starting a podcast and audiobook editing business in the form of freelancing. It's something I know how to do and there is a market need for it. Once I sell my house, I'll have a chunk of money which can help me get a fastlane business off the ground, something with a much higher ceiling than freelancing.

The point of this post is to encourage those of you struggling with mental health to get genetics testing done. There's no longer a reason to guess what's wrong with you like people had to do a few decades ago. Find an above average psychiatrist, even if you have to drive to another state, have the test done, and see what comes back. Everything may be working fine with your brain and your problems strictly situational, or you may have some chemical imbalances that you didn't know were there. Armed with this information, you will be much more likely to succeed because you'll know what actions to take.

 

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