The present invention is related to a method, system or process for screening, studying and treating disorders which have a component of mercurial including: autism, autism spectrum disorders, ADD, ADHD, mental retardation, Asperger's syndrome, childhood psychoses, stammering, stuttering, tics, repetitive movements, eating disorders, sleep disorders, enuresis, disturbances of emotion, developmental language disorders, developmental speech disorders, developmental delay, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, ALS, nephritic syndrome, renal failure, asthma, systemic lupus, autoimmune thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis, vasculitis, myelitis, glomerulonephritis, optic neuritis, infantile cerebral palsy, epilepsy, migraine, toxic encephalopathy, polyneuropathy, cerebral degenerations, anterior horn cell disease, spinocerebellar disease, extrapyramidal disease, and myopathy, and other related disorders. The invention of a method of screening, studying and treating of these disorders by utilizing the interaction of mercurial with the steroidgenesis pathway and its control by the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis is described.