Paul's Story: A tired engineer

When Paul came to my office one night, he was complaining that his parents forced him to go to graduate school when all he wanted to do was work full time, relax and play video games, and just take it easy. Instead he was now going for his master’s degree, working full time and handling a recent promotion, and living independently by himself. In spite of all this, he still had time to do yoga and meditation. He said he was unhappy.

I softly reminded him where he was just three years ago. At that time he had dropped out of college because of depression and psychosis after smoking pot and using LSD. He was on several psychotropic medications, which made him worse. Just recently he had been discharged from Long Island Jewish Hospital where he received 21 ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) treatments. He had big memory gaps and was quite depressed. His life was going nowhere. Several psychiatrists, in no ambivalent terms, told him that he would be on medications for the rest of his life and that he might never be able to function like everybody else. He felt empty, exhausted and hopeless.

The agreement we made at the start was that he would not use any street drugs. He kept his promise. It required a year to get him off all medications, but he was able to return to college in the autumn. He responded well to several supplements and fish oil. But we needed to go further. He had several amalgam fillings replaced. He was eager to do so. He had an unusual experience when amalgam was removed; he felt as though a radio receiver in his mouth suddenly got shut up.

His provocation test was not that high, but compared with the random test it was significant.

He was placed on a process of biological support removing mercury from his brain and organs. He responded well. Within 3-4 months of initiation chelation he was able to get off the remainder of his medications and supplements. He has been quite stable since. He returned to college and graduated the next year. He worked after college, and then spent several months travelling and exploring what he wants in his life. He lived with his parents for a while, but was very unsettled. He enrolled in graduate school and is going for a master’s degree. His life is very busy now; working full time, going to school and supporting himself.

And yes, he has not taken any medications for almost two years, and just occasionally takes supplements. He wants to be natural. His new passion is yoga.

Additional remarks: This case illustrates several important points. Using mind altering drugs is very dangerous; it can cause psychosis in somebody who is predisposed. Paul had several factors that caused his condition:

  • long lasting stress as a child due to several surgical interventions
  • use of marijuana and LSD
  • mercury toxicity
Treatment with ECT can be helpful short term; however, in the long run it does not work effectively. Every day after treatment, the patient loses 5% of its effectiveness and the treatment itself can create significant neurotransmitter imbalance. That is one reason it took about a year to get Paul off medications.

One of the most important factors in his recovery was Paul’s agreement to completely stop using drugs.

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