Lyme Disease:Clear Effects on Mood,
Functioning, Aggression, Behavior, Learning
and Mental Health
Lyme disease patients can experience many psychiatric and neurological symptoms. Any psychiatric, personality or neurologic disorder can be directly caused by entirely by "The Great Imitator"---Lyme.
It is common for Lyme to directly cause attention problems, short-term memory loss, depression, panic attacks, personality changes, mood swings, mania, aggression, and/or learning disabilities. Some introductory literature on these manifestations is found below.
Sample Materials:
Distinct pattern
of cognitive impairment noted in study of Lyme patients
by Marian Rissenberg, Ph.D. & Susan Chambers, M.D.
The Lyme Times, Vol. 20, January-March 1998, pp. 29 -32
SUMMARY: The
following items are covered: Cognitive Characteristics of Chronic Lyme
Encephalopathy, Neuropsychological deficits, Possible Pathophysiologic
Mechanisms of Cognitive Impairment in Lyme Disease, Clinical Impressions and
Implications for Diagnosis and Treatment in Chronic Lyme Disease, Cognitive
impairment in Lyme disease: specific functions and the impact or deficits.
The Neuropsychiatric
Assessment of Lyme Disease
by Robert Bransfield, M.D.
SUMMARY:
"From a combination of clinical experience, journal review, and discussion
with colleagues, a structured interview was developed" to assist in the
overall clinical assessment when late state Lyme disease is suspected.
Additional material is available at the same website. SEE: Mental Health and
Illness .Com
Overview of
Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease
Columbia University Lyme Website
SUMMARY: The
following items are covered: Typical time course, symptoms, cognitive and
psychiatric aspects for both children and adults.
Bibliography of
Neuropsychiatric Lyme
A collection of references to medical/scientific literature on
psychiatry and Lyme/tick-borne disease. One item worth obtaining the full-text
of is "The Neuropsychiatric Manifestations of Lyme Borreliosis".
Full Text Peer-Reviewed
Articles
The
following articles, listed alphabetically, are available online at no charge.
Additional peer-reviewed articles are listed in the bibliography above, and
some of those may be worth obtaining through your medical library.
A Controlled Study of
Cognitive Deficits in Children With Chronic Lyme Disease (pdf file)
Tager, Fallon, et. al.
J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 13:500-507, November 2001
Functional
Brain Imaging and Neuropsychological Testing in Lyme Disease (pdf file)
by Fallon, Das, Plutchok, Tager, Liegner, Van Heertum
CID 1997; 25:S57-63
(Requires Adobe
Acrobat)
by Hajek, et. el.
Am J Psychiatry 159:297-301, February 2002
Late-Stage
Neuropsychiatric Lyme Borreliosis: Differential Diagnosis and Treatment
by Fallon, et. al.
Psychosomatics 1995;36:295-300
Lyme Disease: A
Neuropsychiatric Illness
by Fallon, Nields
Am J Psychiatry 151:11, November 1994 pp.1571-1580
Musical
Hallucinations in Patients with Lyme Disease
by Stricker, Winger
Southern Medical Journal 2003; 96(7):711-715
The
neuropsychiatric manifestations of Lyme borreliosis
by Fallon, Nields, Burrascano, Liegner, DelBene, Liebowitz
Psychiatr Q 1992 Spring;63(1):95-117
**RECOMMENDED ITEM
by Sherr
Practical Gastroenterology, January 2000
Potential
uses of Modafinil in Psychiatric Disorders (pdf file)
by Bransfield
Journal of Applied Research, 2004 Spring; 4(2): 198-208
(Requires Adobe
Acrobat)
For insurance, see: Forms 1
and Forms
2
Seasonal correlation
of sporadic schizophrenia to Ixodes ticks and Lyme borreliosis
by Fritzsche
International Journal of Health Geographics 2002 1:2
The Underdiagnosis
of Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease in Children and Adults
by Fallon, Kochevar, Gaito, Nields
Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 1998; 21: 693-703
Misc. Articles (News,
Newsletters, Websites, etc.)
Articles By
Robert Bransfield, M.D.
Lyme Alliance Newsletter
The following articles are available: "All in Your Head?",
"Microbes and Mental Illness", "Spirochetes On the Brain",
"Lyme Disease and Cognitive Impairments", "Lyme, Depression, and
Suicide", "Agression and Lyme Disease", "A Tale of Two
Spirochetes" and "Sex and Lyme Disease". The following are the
most recently added: "Gettysburg Times Article", "The Klempner
Study", "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Infectious
Encephalopathies", "The Psychotropic Management of Late-Stage Lyme
and Associated Diseases" and "What Causes Illness and Mental
Illness?".
Understanding
the Puzzle of Chronic Lyme
Columbia University Medical Center News, August 2004
Brain Scans Distinguish Lyme
Disease From Primary Psychiatric Disorders
Doctor's Guide to the Internet, October 24, 1997
Can Lyme Disease
Cause Psychiatric Disorders?
by Joan Arehart-Treichel
Psychiatric News: March 15, 2002
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: October 2002
Neurological Impairment Seen in
Patients Given Lymerix
DG News: October, 2002
I Refused to
Give Up on My Daughter
Good Housekeeping: October 2003
by James Schaller, MD
Psychological
and Neurological Basic Findings of Active Lyme Disease
by James Schaller, MD
Actress
with Migraines and ADD Reports Both Due to Lyme
by James Schaller, MD
Cognition
Problems Fuel Lyme Disease Debate
by Nancy Walsh
Clinical Psychiatry News: October 2002
Free Registration Required
Lyme disease victims
find new hope in study on Cape
Cape Cod Times: November 2002
Free Registration Required
Amy
Tan, Ticked Off About Lyme
Washington Post, August 2003
Newsweek: August, 2004
Newsweek International: December 2003
Columbia University Lyme Website
Columbia University Lyme Website
Lyme
Disease and Psychiatric Disorders
P&S Journal: Winter 1998, Vol.18, No.1
Presentations
Psychiatric and
neuropsychological aspects of Lyme Disease
by Felice A. Tager, Ph.D. and Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, May 2002
Testimonies of Brian Fallon, M.D. and
Carolyn Britton, M.D.
NY Assembly Health Committee Hearing on Lyme Disease
November, 2001 (Scroll down)
Testimony of Robert Bransfield, M.D.
NY Assembly Health Committee Hearing on Lyme Disease
November, 2001
Spirochetes may
"love the brain to death"
by Dr. Diego Cadavid
101st General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, May, 2001.
Neurologic Lyme Disease:
Defining and Treating an Elusive Target
by Brian A. Fallon, M.D., and Harry Goldhagen, MS
14th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne
Disorders, April, 2001.
(Free Registration Required)
Review of Lyme
Neuroborreliosis
13th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease and other
Tick-borne Disorders, March, 2000.
Lyme Neuroborreliosis:
Recognition, Treatment, and Retreatment of Relapse
13th International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease and other
Tick-borne Disorders, March, 2000.
by Leo Shea, PhD
12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and
Tick-Borne Disorders, April 1999.
Also See:
presentation abstract
Summary of
Neurologic Lyme Disease Presentations
by Brain A. Fallon, M.D.
12th International Conference on Lyme Disease and Other Spirochetal and
Tick-Borne Disorders, April 1999.
Lyme
Disease vs. Somatoform Disorders
by Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
10th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other
Tick-Borne Disorders, April 1997.
Psychiatric
Aspects of LD & the Use of SPECT Imaging
by Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
10th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other
Tick-Borne Disorders, April 1997.
Seronegative
Chronic Meningoencephalomyelitis in LD
by Kenneth B. Liegner, M.D.
10th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other
Tick-Borne Disorders, April, 1997.
Lyme
Disease and the Clinical Spectrum of Antibiotic-Responsive Chronic
Meningoencephalomyelitides
by Kenneth B. Liegner, M.D.
9th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other
Tick-Borne Disorders, April, 1996.
Lyme
Disease vs. Depression vs. Somatization: Cognitive Tests & Functional
Imaging
by Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
9th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other
Tick-Borne Disorders, April 1996
by Valdeane Brown, Ph.D.
Annual Conference of the Society for the Study of Neuronal Regulation, May 1995
Books & Videos:
Neuropsychiatric
Aspects of Other Infectious Diseases.
By Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry., Ed. Kaplan and Sadock. Williams
& Wilkins, 2002.
Lyme & Other
Tick-borne Diseases: A 21st Century View, 2001
Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease Update by Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
Neurological Manifestations of Lyme Disease by Richard S. Rhee, MD
Neuropsychiatric
Manifestations of Lyme Borreliosis
by Brian A. Fallon, M.D.
Columbia University Lyme Website
Additional Resources:
In particular, the symptoms file has information pertaining to
neuropsychiatric Lyme. The Neurologic system begins on page 17 of the symptoms
file.
A Selection of Free Journal Articles Available Online on the subject of
Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases.
SPECT perfusion images
SPECT Scans
Neurological
Testing Procedures
Not Lyme-specific
Not Lyme-specific
By Kay
Art Doherty's "Annotated Bibliographies of Medical and Scientific
Articles on Lyme Disease Issues".
Other
Diseases/Conditions and Lyme Disease
by Art Doherty
Lyme
Disease and Bipolar Disorder
by Art Doherty
Lyme Disease and
Neurological Manifestations
by Art Doherty
Lyme Disease and
Sleep Disorders
by Art Doherty
While this is not a complete list of the clinical findings of psychiatrists and child psychiatrists working with struggling patients, it is a solid introduction. If you have further specific questions, feel free to do an email or phone consult.
I would like to thank Cheryl at www.lymeinfo.net for her massive sacrifice of time and money to establish one of the most useful Lyme education sites in the world. It is profoundly superior to the poverty of information the CDC offers.
She has networked with physicians who have treated more Lyme patients than probably the entire CDC staff combined, and offers material that most infectious disease experts would do well to read so they are not back in the 1990's. Most infectious disease doctors are not just missing Lyme every day, but are actively opposing the best care for the number one vector illness in the USA--Lyme. Currently, they use junk labs, ignore dangerous co-infections, attack physicians who fix their failures, have poor clinical observation powers for tick illness, and almost caused me to lose many family members and friends who had massive symptoms--they almost died! These physicians were following a few famous "leaders" in Lyme ultra-conservative treatment and the silly CDC approach to Tick disease. The good news is the CDC usually gets it eventually. But some folks do not live long enough to see their enlightenment.
In conclusion, let me offer a sober warning. I have seen some Lyme infected people do violent, addictive and impulsive things that do not reflect the person, but their brain infection. Please get them treated. Now.
