Geropsychosis: A Biophysical Framework for Understanding Psychiatric Symptoms as Accelerated Aging Pathologies

The geropsychosis hypothesis proposes that anxiety, mood, psychotic, and neurocognitive disorders may share a common biophysical origin with aging itself, rather than arising from wholly disparate pathological routes in many instances. Specifically, we postulate that these conditions may emerge from the bioaccumulation of metals, advanced glycation end products (AGEs), advanced lipoxidation end products (ALEs), and their hybrid complexes in post-pubescent individuals. Such inputs may drive self-reinforcing molecular feedback loops underlying clinically meaningful insults against the nervous system, extending emerging conceptualizations of aging to mental health. Through comprehensive analysis of upstream molecular damage and neural function, this framework offers a mechanistic foundation for conceptualizing several mental disorders as emerging from a unified source. In doing so, the geropsychosis hypothesis may help identify new therapeutic targets and intervention strategies to address underlying contributors to psychiatric pathology.