You have likely read about the headline-grabbing sad saga of Brian Walshe and his wife Ana Walshe. Ana has been missing for several weeks and as time has dragged on, her husband Thomas has moved to the center stage of possible suspects in her disappearance. This story resonates with me because this sordid tale has unfolded in our home state of Massachusetts.
The Emerging Picture of a Sociopath
I haven’t formally evaluated or treated Mr. Walshe, so this post is based on a combination of decades of clinical experience and speculation. Based on published stories concerning Mr. Walshe, it’s clear that he has a very checkered past. He stole money from family and friends, borrowed and never repaid large sums of money from people, took advantage of all his contacts, and admitted to selling fake paintings for $80,000. While others might be satisfied to label Walshe as a sociopath or psychopath, I look at things a bit differently. If you look at the above images, the first picture shows Walshe with his wife years ago, where he appears to be fit and trim. The second is a recent photo of Walshe where he clearly has gained significant weight, and he appears bloated, ill, and pudgy. When I see this type of dramatic change in appearance, I next move on to looking at their brain function.
The Brain Calls the Shots
For over 40 years, I have been investigating the connection between diet and brain function. I also have an interest in obesity (excessive body fat), and to date I have taken over 10,000 body composition readings in primary care. I don’t rely on the expert-recommended body mass index (BMI), because it’s a size measure that tells you nothing about the amount of fat in an individual’s body. Obesity is defined as “excessive body fat”, so from a scientific standpoint, when treating patients, we should measure the parameter that defines the condition.
For many years I have also had a strong interest in brain disorders, and I belonged to Stephen Stahl’s Neuroscience Education Institute (NEI). Over decades I noticed a close correlation between certain brain dysfunction symptoms and changes in body composition, and the brain symptoms always seemed to lead the body changes. This suggests that when it comes to fat storage, the brain rather than calories calls the shots. I eventually figured out that highly processed food seems to be driving this process that fit the pattern of a distinct disease. I decided to call this disease Carbohydrate Associated Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. The disease has two main components:
- People with CARB syndrome seem to store excessive body fat at virtually any caloric intake, regardless of their BMI, size, or weight.
- They also develop up to 22 brain dysfunction symptoms that overlap with many traditional brain disorders, creating a great deal of diagnostic and therapeutic confusion.
Don’t Combine Brain Disorders
Excessive fat storage or obesity tends to attract the most attention, but it’s the brain dysfunction symptoms that cause the most problems for a person with CARB syndrome. You need healthy brain function to have a quality life. Various brain disorders are very common in today’s world:
- Various forms of depression
- Various forms of anxiety
- Bipolar disorder, type I and II
- Sleep disorders
- Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia
- ADD and ADHD
- Autism
- Obsessive compulsive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Eating disorders
- Social phobia
Because virtually everyone today is consuming some or often a lot of highly processed food, almost everyone is developing some degree of CARB syndrome. This is not a good situation, because it’s like adding gas to a fire. Their underlying brain disorder accelerates and then can take over their life in a very negative fashion.
An Emerging Tragic Tale
Let’s go back to Bryan Walshe for a perspective on this issue. He clearly fits the pattern of a sociopath, with distorted views and behaviors stretching back to his childhood. He also clearly has CARB syndrome. How can I tell? By looking at the above photos showing an obvious change in the amount of fat in his body, along with accelerating bizarre behavior. He likely murdered his wife and disposed of her body. I would say that demonstrates a very high degree of brain dysfunction. I guess you could call this the Twinkie version of the story!
If he didn’t develop CARB syndrome, would this story have turned out the same way? It’s difficult to predict, but I certainly think it’s possible that if his brain function wasn’t in the toilet, Ana Walshe might still be alive today.
Ditch the Gas
The take home message is that you certainly don’t want to add CARB syndrome to any underlying brain disorder you might be prone to. If you have strong cravings for sweet and starchy food—the lead symptom of CARB syndrome, you are already heading down this dangerous pathway. If so, I highly recommend that you read my book “Brain Drain” that will teach you how to make your own diagnosis of CARB syndrome and arrange for your own treatment. That way you can avoid the dangerous scenario of throwing gas on the fire.