Lyme Disease and psychosis?

TerryJ2

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
This murder is really tragic. It got me thinking ... I know Lyme can cause serious, lifelong illnesses. (I always think of Amy Tan and how cute she was b4 Lyme, and how angry she is.) I'm not so sure I would reject it out of hand as quickly as this Yale Lyme expert did. Although it could have been misdx'd Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever, too, which is also known to cause psychotic symptoms.

http://news.aol.com/article/illinois-church-shooting/374149
 
Lothlorien

Lothlorien

Active Member
Lyme's is big around this part of the country. I've never heard of psychosis as being a symptom. Neurological problems yes, but not psychosis. If he had psychological issues prior to getting Lyme's, that could have played some part in it.

The sick part is that church is a place where you feel somewhat safe and now that is something slowly being eaten away too.
 
J

Josie

Active Member
It is well known by chronic Lyme patients that Lyme causes mental illness that can improve with Lyme treatment.

We believe my daughter's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is caused by Lyme. Whether it will get better remains to be seen. In her case, she started having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms at 6, right after she had a bullseye rash (meaning Lyme). Since she was only 6, who knows whether that would have happened anyway. We don't have a history of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), mental illness, or drug/alcohol problems in the family, though. There are people who came down with Lyme as adults, though, that developed psychiatric symptoms.

My daughter used to rage to the point that we were afraid she would hurt herself. She actually did hurt herself once, a few months after this rash. Before that, she was truly a easy child. We didn't know about Lyme Disease then so we didn't make the connection at the time. 3 1/2 years later, when we started her Lyme treatment, she was taking Seroquel to help control her raging. Right after we started her on Lyme medications, she no longer needed the Seroquel.

I've posted this here before, but here is a link to a brochure called "What Psychiatrists Should Know About Lyme Disease". https://web.archive.org/web/20140625161557/http://www.ilads.org/lyme/Psychiatric_Brochure_08_08.pdf
 
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