What would my symptoms be?

A mood disorder arising from Membrain Disorder could range from mild depression to full blown psychosis.

It is the housing of the brain (the bony skull and underlying dural membrane) that is disturbed and how this manifests is difficult to predict or even interpret.   It may be that you experience physical pain associated with the Membrain Disorder and are experiencing headaches, sinus pain, neck pain but this is not always the case.  It may be that your mood disorder recovers by itself but  is triggered again by a physical trauma, even a mild one such as a visit to the dentist or being hit in the face by a tennis ball - or by getting sick, especially an upper respiratory infection.  Symptoms tend to develop some weeks after the destabilising event and so the association between the two events is rarely linked.  

Who can I ask if I have this condition?

At the moment most GPs, psychiatrists and psychotherapists do not know about Membrain Disorder.  This osteopathic forum (MMOF) is currently trying to bring awareness to other healthcare professionals and initiate research in this field.    However, for the time being if you ask medical  professionals about Membrain Disorder they probably will not know what you are talking about.  Ideally you would find an osteopath trained in the cranial field who has attended a post graduate course on Membrain Health.  There is a list on this website.  If you cannot find someone in your area the alternative is to find a cranial osteopath and ask if they have read the book.  Always tell your psychotherapist or psychiatrist what you are doing and perhaps give them the book!  You could help us spread awareness of Membrain Disorder, its causes and most importantly, its treatment and cure.

Is there any point in my reading the book?

The answer is YES!  The book is written for the lay person and many find it a great relief to read as it makes a lot of sense to those struggling with a mental health issue which is not responding to the care of other professionals.  It also makes a lot of sense to those that care for someone struggling with their mental health.  The second half of the Mind & Membrain  describes a new way of thinking about mental health diagnosis and treatment.  The basic idea is that similar mental health conditions such as depression, OCD, anxiety, even different forms of psychosis, can have very different root causes and until the right cause is identified and the relevant treatment given, the suffering will not end.  The book offers a ‘road map’ of where patients should be referred to if, importantly,  they do not have Membrain Disorder.  This new approach to the diagnosis of health and disease called the Dimensional Model of Health is not fool proof – nothing ever is - but if you are struggling to find answers it maybe that you can find them in the book - linked here.

What would be a sign that I don’t have Membrain Disorder?

If other members of your extended family suffer similar mood disorders to yourself and have done for generations this is a suggestion that Membrain Disorder may not be a contributory factor to your mental health issue.   

Equally if you are suffering a mood disorder as a consequence of a difficult time in your life - maybe you have lost someone you love or struggling at work with a difficult boss or perhaps going through a divorce – these are very understandable reasons for suffering with your mental health and probably not associated with a historical head trauma.

 If you have suffered a severe head injury where the force has passed through the skull and dural membrane system and has injured the brain and suffered a true traumatic brain injury (TBI).  It maybe that the skull and dural membrane system were also injured but perhaps this is secondary to the damage caused to the brain.  

However the only clear way of knowing that Membrain Disorder is not a contributing factor is to have a practitioner trained in this field to take a thorough case history, observe you  and palpate your head – ‘Hand on Heads’.