A.  Definition of brain chemical imbalance

Brain chemistry is unique and personal, and can be either an advantageous asset, or a disadvantageous handicap.  Chemical imbalances are psychological signs with physical causes.  People may have recurrent feelings, thoughts, or behaviors unacceptable to themselves are others.  The mind ordinarily produces many different chemicals, which if missing, low or excessive, cause discomfort of many types.  Some chemical imbalances are terrorizing and unrelenting, while others are brief and related to crisis.

The brain is the most complex organ
in the body, and so has the greatest chance of going awry.  Observers in
the Human Genome Project indicate 50% of the genetic code may relate
to the brain. 

 It follows that any chromosome error has a 50/50 chance of affecting the mind.  Furthermore, numerous factors (known and unknown) can inflict "hit and run" destruction against chemical systems of the brain.A decrease in level of functioning not solved by traditional psychotherapy or support groups suggests a need for medication.  Some chemical imbalances may be incompatible with life, and so absolutely need treatment.  Completely frustrated, current as well as past generations have "solved "distress by resorting to alcohol, drug abuse, addictions, violence and suicide. 

There is only so much the mind and soul can take before its weakest branch breaks.  When a leg
is fractured, a temporary cast allows for healing.  Similarly, a malfunctioning nerve pathway may need to be braced by a chemical cast. 

Many inherited traits (for example irritability) are not completely under voluntary control, and burden the owner to struggle not only with everyday frustrations, but also their own brain.

Whether a chemical imbalance is due to stress or genetics, whether it is temporary or long-term, a solution is within reach.  The hardware and circuitry can be modified so new programs for learning can be entered.  Our ancestors had no choice.  Now the chemical workhorse that is not working can be identified and corrected.

B.  Brain Centers

A simple and practical approach to diagnosis and treatment is to first list brain functions, with the understanding that each is anatomically unique. These regions or circuits, which control behavior can fail, and are listed below. 

Furthermore, each of the above anatomic regions is fed by numerous different chemistries. 
100 billion nerves are in the central nervous system, each with 1,000 to 100,000 connections
with other nerves.  A flaw in any chemical system feeding a brain center can cause symptoms. 

All systems have to be working to feel normal.

For example, this female had electrical instability causing depression.  Since 6% of the maximum dose of electricity stabilizing medicine corrected this, it can be said a 6% electrical instability on her mood center caused sadness.

C.  Ill Nerve Pathways and "Comorbidity"

Chemical imbalances can be scattered on nerve pathways, brain centers, or through the body. The brain stem can be considered as a launch pad for major transmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and epinephrine) producing trajectories upwards on nerve pathways targeting numerous areas of the mind.

80% of the brain is composed of "associative " nerve fibers linking different brain regions.  As a result, most chemical abnormalities seem to follow the anatomy of nerve pathways.  Similar to a tree with branches, multiple different brain centers are usually affected by an ill nerve tract.  For example, a malfunctioning nerve "trunk " feeding brain centers for focus, mood, anxiety, energy and metabolism will cause symptoms in those areas like the branches of a tree whose leaves turn brown.  The impaired nerve cell bodies may be analogous to a diseased root ball. This grouping of symptoms can be called comorbidity.

Ill nerve pathways are analogous to a tree's diseased root ball causing certain branches it feeds to turn brown.

Dopamine failure causing poor-concentration, depression, anxiety, fatigue and weight gain.

Comorbidity may occur from a chemical defect in a part of the "root ball", whose trunk and branches feed several different brain regions.  For example, one study cited 53% of ADHD adults have generalized anxiety (Wood et al. 1976), suggesting catecholamine failure (ADHD chemistry) in the brain stem can affect a nerve pathway (median forebrain bundle) and its two branches feeding brain centers for focus and anxiety.

Furthermore, symptoms can be due not only to alterations in the quantity of neurotransmitter, but also from abnormalities in the sensitivity (high or low) of its receptors.

A majority of malfunctions relate to nerve pathway chemistry (whereby one medication fixes many different symptoms), while a minority are due to unique chemical disturbance within a particular brain center (whereby one medication fixes only one symptom).

The body (outside the brain) also can have chemically flawed "patches".  For example, chemical instability affecting blood vessels causing cluster migraine headaches can be fixed by lithium and have nothing to do with manic depression.

Nerve tracts arising from a malfunctioning cell group will show symptoms in the brain centers
they feed.

The frequency of comorbidity may be related to the closeness or proximity of nerve tracts to the diseased area or cell group .