Tick Borne Infection and Mental Health
I recently had a patient contact our office with a complaint of a multi-year history of anxiety that started several months after a camping trip. Despite trying many different medications and counseling therapies, their anxiety has been resistant to all attempts at treatment. In addition to the anxiety, the patient had also developed a distinctive “stretch mark like” rash, but the patient did not have risk factors for stretch marks. This case has the hallmarks for a vector borne infection that we lump into the category of Lyme and associated diseases, called Bartonella (also known as Cat Scratch Fever). Neuropsychiatric symptoms (mental illness) have been well documented in the scientific literature in patients with Bartonella positive testing.
Rather than the neurotransmitter (brain chemical) imbalances that we typically associate with mood issues, infections like Bartonella lead to mental illness by causing inflammation in the brain. While in some cases psychiatric medications help, in other cases they do not or they lead to other unpleasant symptoms. Finding and treating the underlying cause of the inflammation is the best approach to helping someone recover. The case study “Bartonella henselae Bloodstream Infection in a Boy With Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome” published in the Journal of Central Nervous System Disease
in 2019 is a good example of such a case. Bartonella is not the only vector borne infection to be associated with treatment resistant mental illness. It is also well documented that patients with Lyme disease (Borreliosis) have higher than average rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide than the general public. It is so important that we find and treat these infections so that people can live their best and happiest lives.
At the Stram Center it is our goal to help find and treat the underlying causes of disease so that you can feel your best. May is lyme awareness month, please spread the word so that people get the help they need.
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