Personality disorders/mental illnesses: cats to blame?

[emad]

New research in Europe and the US shows that parasitic infestation may be responsible for a number of behavioural/personality disorders as well as mental illness:

Writing in the UK's Sunday Times, Jonathan Leake, Science Editor, says that research sponsored by the Stanley Research Medical Institute of Maryland has found that the toxoplasmosis parasite, commonly carried and dispersed by cats - and rats - may be responsible for an array of illnesses and disorders:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-824677,00.html

Sounds like a large re definition of mood/personality disorder is called for as well as a re classification of mental illness such as manic depression and schizophrenia. The latter are still treated (almost always unsucessfully) as chronic brain-chemical imbalance conditions, needing legally enforced sedation palliatives.

A parallel with ergot poisoning comes to mind, whereby extremes of behaviour were classified as mental illness, due to inherent biological weakness or biochemical imbalance.

[Classical_Liberal]

1. I'm not giving up my Kittys over one study

. They have made lots of wierd claims over the years.

[emad]

5. I think you're right....we need more vets, not more shrinks!

Maybe they'll find a jab to immunize with...

[Lindacooks]

2. If you keep your cats indoors,

so they can't catch animals and birds, and don't feed them raw meat, you won't have any problem with toxoplasmosis. Also keep the litterboxes clean and thoroughly wash your hands after cleaning the litterbox.

[RC]

3. And do not let your cat on the counters and table tops.

Those same paws have been in the litter box.

@#$% speling

[emad]

4. It may be passed on before birth from mother to kitten....

hope they do some more research on it though, the idea of a massive cat cull as a knee-jerk response to the toxo scare would have me up in arms about my furries, too.....

[Don_G]

6. I'll Give Up My Kitty

When they pry her from my cold, dead hands....

[davidinalameda]

7. my cat sets me crazy

but if it's more than just his behavior, prove it

I've had cats for the past 30 years and most of them were outside cats

[maha]

8. My human makes me crazy!

She's demented. She says strange things in her sleep, like "Whistle Ass." And she eats icky things like vegetables. But I love her anyway (she feeds me).

Princess Maha Kitty Cat

[blindpig]

9. yes!

[SoCalDem]

10. Since humans have has cats as pets for thousands of years,

and the "mental illnesses" are on the rise since we introduced chemical cocktails into our air, water, soil, perhaps they need to do more research into THOSE potiential causes..

Sounds a bit like "junk science" to me :P

edit:

If they are implying that living with cats gives you menatl disorders, perhaps it's the other way around.. Maybe people with "sensitive mental difficulties" are drawn to cats, because of the serenity they are known for... :shrug: