It is that time of year again. While we enjoy the outdoors, the sunshine and the fresh air, unfortunately we are at the greatest risk for contracting tick borne illnesses like Lyme disease. Some may know that I lived undiagnosed with both bartonella and Lyme until it became neurological and debilitating, forever altering my way of life and that of my family.
I came across an article recently, I will quote a paragraph and provide the link for the full text. This study discusses the true need for awareness among mental health professionals and those struggling with mental illness to rule out these collections of infections.
Currently, there are over 40,000 well-documented and many more undocumented suicides in the US each year, and many are unexplained. A number of infectious diseases, and in particular chronic infectious diseases, have also been associated with suicide. This article analyzes the association between suicide and Lyme and associated diseases (LAD). Based upon the medical literature demonstrating the physiology associated with suicide, a chart review, and epidemiological calculations, it was demonstrated there is a causal relationship between LAD and suicide, and the pathophysiology of LAD can be explained and it causes a significant number of suicides. LAD causes immune effects, biochemical changes, and a number of psychiatric symptoms that contribute to suicidal risk. By indirect calculations, it is estimated there are possibly over 1,200 LAD suicides in the US per year.
“Suicide and Lyme and associated diseases”, Robert C Bransfield, Neupsychiatric Disease and Treatment, June 2017
Be safe, prevention is the best medicine.
Be well,
David Aronson LCSW
more than musings 