Nicole Laurent, LMHCIn the world of psychiatric care, there is an unspoken rule: if you have a serious mental illness, you are expected to manage, not recover.
That is the system.
Medication is offered as the first and last solution. If you continue to struggle, more medication is added. When side effects become unbearable, the dosage is adjusted or another drug is introduced. You are told it is lifelong. You are told to be compliant. You are told this is as good as it gets.
And for people on disability, those living with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, or debilitating anxiety disorders, that “care plan” often becomes a closed loop.
For many, it leads to a quiet kind of disappearance. Functional life becomes limited. Relationships break down. Work becomes impossible. Identity becomes a diagnosis. Hope is something people speak about in platitudes but never offer as a real outcome. In fact, we are discouraged from communicating anything other than that these diagnoses are lifelong and chronic.
We are expected to believe this is compassionate care.
But what if it is just outdated?
What if the system is not failing because people are noncompliant but because it is missing something foundational?
What Happens When You Treat the Brain’s Metabolism
More and more research is pointing to something psychiatry has yet to fully integrate. Many serious psychiatric conditions have a metabolic component. Glucose hypometabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neuroinflammation are not fringe theories. They are being documented across diagnoses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.(1)
The brain is not just chemically imbalanced. For many, it is metabolically impaired.
And if that is true, restoring mental health is not just about adjusting neurotransmitters. It is about changing brain metabolism.
Therapeutic ketogenic diets, used for over a century to treat drug-resistant epilepsy, change the brain’s primary fuel source from glucose to ketones. When applied properly, this shift has been associated with reduced psychiatric symptoms, improved emotional regulation, and greater cognitive function. In some cases, it has also led to decreased reliance on psychiatric medications.
In one inpatient study, individuals with schizophrenia experienced a 45 percent drop in psychotic symptoms and a 75 percent reduction in depressive symptoms on a ketogenic diet, along with reduced medication needs.(2) A recent case study showed full remission of chronic depression within eight weeks of dietary intervention.(3) Pilot data in bipolar disorder suggests a relationship between ketone levels and reduced anxiety, impulsivity, and mood instability.(4)
These are not isolated anecdotes. They are early signals that, for some people, ketones may provide a more stable and functional fuel supply to the brain than glucose.
So why do so few people have access to this?
The Problem Is Not the Science. It Is the System.
Most people living with serious mental illness will never hear about ketogenic therapy as a psychiatric option. Not because the evidence is lacking, but because the infrastructure is not built to support it.
- Doctors are not trained in ketogenic metabolic therapies.
- Insurance does not cover it as a treatment for mental illness.
- The system remains designed around pharmaceutical management, not metabolic recovery.
Even individuals who are motivated, desperate even, to try something different are told to wait. Wait for the guidelines. Wait for more studies. Wait for the system to catch up.
But people on disability cannot wait. Their symptoms are happening now. Their lives are happening now.
Brain Fog Recovery Source Exists to Remove the Barriers
We are the only nonprofit providing ketogenic metabolic therapy education and support exclusively to individuals on disability with serious mental illness.
We do not wait for institutional approval. We do not bill insurance. We do not add complexity to a system that has already failed the people we serve.
Instead, we offer:
- Structured education that explains the science and implementation
- Weekly live question and answer sessions with a licensed clinician
- One on one dietary guidance when needed
- Access for a caregiver or support person
- A private online peer community
- Tools to track progress over time
All of this is offered at no cost to participants.
Because the people who need this the most are the least likely to be able to access it.
This model is already working. Individuals are returning to work, reducing medication with their providers, reconnecting with family, and experiencing lasting improvements in emotional regulation and cognitive function.
We are not promising a cure. But we are creating access to something the current system has not delivered: a structured opportunity to try.
A Note to the Keto-Mojo Community
If you are reading this, you already understand the power of the ketogenic diet. You know what it means to fuel your brain differently.
Now imagine you had never heard of it.
Imagine no one told you it was even an option.
Or you learned about it, but had no way to access it.
That is the reality for millions of people living with serious psychiatric conditions. And it will remain their reality, unless those of us who do know decide to act.
At Brain Fog Recovery Source, we are scaling our efforts to meet growing demand. The interest is there. The clinical results are there. What is missing is the support that makes our model sustainable.
If you can give a one-time donation, it will go directly toward enrolling someone who is waiting.
If you can give monthly, even in small amounts, it allows us to plan. To stabilize operations. To say yes faster. Monthly support helps us deliver consistent, high-quality access to metabolic therapy for people the system has left behind. It builds capacity for recovery, one person at a time.
Learn more or donate at: Brain Fog Recovery Source 501(c)(3)
If you believe this knowledge should be available to everyone, regardless of income or diagnosis, help us move it forward.
Because recovery is possible. But access must come first.
References
- The ketogenic diet as a transdiagnostic treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders. Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry, 2024
- The Ketogenic Diet for Refractory Mental Illness: A Retrospective Analysis of 31 Inpatients, Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2022
- Ketogenic metabolic therapy in chronic major depressive disorder, Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025
- A pilot study of a ketogenic diet in bipolar disorder, The British Journal of Psychiatry Open, 2025
