MENTAL HEALTH
Updated: Oct 16
A member said a therapist who is also a manager at a behavior health center would like to educate her other therapists, staff and doctors (psychiatrists) about Lyme disease and mental health.
I am doing this post containing articles pertaining to that connection.
There would be many to gather based on Bartonella but I'm keeping it mostly Lyme focused.
Quick view graphic at bottom.
Email us for a Lyme Literate therapist:
IN THIS POST
-Key points for therapists, psychiatrists and doctors
-Signs that may point to Lyme
-The newest research
-Older information that still matters
-If you are struggling
KEY POINTS FOR THERAPISTS, PSYCHIATRISTS AND DOCTORS
-Lyme can affect mood, thinking and behavior. Psychiatrist Dr. Robert Bransfield points to more than 500 published articles linking Lyme and other tick-borne diseases to psychiatric illness.
-Columbia psychiatrist Dr. Brian Fallon has said that sometimes mental health professionals are the first ones to consider Lyme disease. He encourages clinicians to think about Lyme when a patient has psychiatric symptoms along with symptoms in other parts of the body.
-Psychiatric symptoms can show up long after the tick bite. Dr. Bransfield shared that his patients are, on average, about nine years past their infection when they come to him, with some showing up as late as 40 years later.
-A single test does not settle it. Dr. Bransfield says Lyme test results can be misleading in both directions, so a full history and a look at symptoms across the whole body matter.
-Dr. Bransfield, Dr. Charlotte Mao and Dr. Rosalie Greenberg wrote that most psychiatrists have limited training in infectious diseases, and most infectious disease doctors have limited awareness of psychiatric illness.
-LymeDisease.org points out that if an infection is part of the cause, treatment that does not address the infection may not be enough.
SIGNS THAT MAY POINT TO LYME
-Symptoms that start suddenly, like first-time panic attacks, or a high-achieving student who suddenly struggles in school (psychologist Sheila Statlender)
-Anxiety that is intense and long-lasting, often with no clear trigger (psychologist Joseph Trunzo)
-Big mood swings, low frustration tolerance and sudden explosive anger, sometimes called Lyme rage (Dr. Bransfield)
-Feeling detached from yourself or your surroundings (Dr. Bransfield)
-Brain fog, memory trouble and poor sleep that doesn't feel restful (Dr. Bransfield)
-Physical symptoms in other parts of the body at the same time, like pain, fatigue or nerve symptoms
THE NEWEST RESEARCH
-2025: Dr. Bransfield wrote in Medical Research Archives that infections can trigger brain inflammation and autoimmunity. He explained that under-treated Lyme may lead to Lyme encephalopathy, with memory problems, mood changes and sleep problems. He is calling for psychiatry, neurology, immunology and infectious disease to work together so these patients are not misdiagnosed.
-2024: On the Love, Hope, Lyme podcast, Dr. Bransfield explained that inflammation can push the body to turn tryptophan into a compound that can harm nerve cells, instead of into serotonin and melatonin. He also shared that coinfections like Bartonella and Babesia often come along with Lyme and can make each other worse.
-2024: Researchers at North Carolina State University and Columbia found Bartonella DNA in the blood of 43 percent of adults with psychosis, compared to 14 percent of people without psychosis. Antibody tests did not show the difference. Dr. Fallon cautioned that this is a link, not proof of cause, and larger studies are needed.
-2024: Dr. Bransfield, Dr. Mao and Dr. Greenberg published a review on microbes and mental illness. They explained that the Lyme bacteria can hide from the immune system and can be hard to find with common blood tests.
-2023: In a Bay Area Lyme Foundation podcast, Dr. Bransfield described three ways infections can affect mental health: infection in the brain, immune effects from infection elsewhere in the body, and effects on blood flow. He said an infection can leave lasting problems even after it is gone.
-2022: LymeDisease.org shared that depression and anxiety are common in people with long-term Lyme. Dr. Fallon explained that infections that inflame the brain can cause psychiatric disorders, and Lyme bacteria can do this. Lorraine Johnson, CEO of LymeDisease.org, shared that she was misdiagnosed with major depression for about five years.
-2021: A study of nearly 7 million people in Denmark, led by Dr. Fallon, found that people diagnosed with Lyme in the hospital had a 28 percent higher rate of mental disorders, a 42 percent higher rate of mood disorders, about twice the rate of suicide attempts and a 75 percent higher rate of death by suicide. The risk was highest in the first years after diagnosis. The researchers noted that the overall risk for any one person is still low.
OLDER INFORMATION THAT STILL MATTERS
-2019: LymeDisease.org shared Dr. Bransfield's concerns about proposed Lyme guidelines that advised against Lyme testing for adults with psychiatric illness and for children with developmental, behavioral or psychiatric disorders. No psychiatrists were on the guidelines panel, and more than 1,000 articles on these topics can be found in PubMed.
IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING
You are not weak, and you are not alone. Please tell your doctor or therapist what you are feeling, and lean on the people who love you.
If you ever have thoughts of hurting yourself, please call or text 988 right away.
RELATED RISE ABOVE LYME POSTS
RISE ABOVE LYME LITERATE / KNOWLEDGEABLE THERAPISTS (and some Psychiatrists now)
DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY
DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY - POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
DEPRESSION AND GUT CONNECTION
MOOD, IRRITABILITY AND RAGE
MEDICAL PTSD / MEDICAL TRAUMA
PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH LYME
PANS / PANDAS
SOURCES
LymeDisease.org, Could Lyme and Other Infections Be Driving Psychiatric Disorders? (2025)
Contagion Live, Dr. Robert Bransfield, Psychiatric Symptoms Emerging Years After Lyme and Tick-Borne Infections (2025)
LymeDisease.org, Psychiatric and Mental Health Toll of Chronic Lyme Disease Podcast (2024)
LymeDisease.org, Bartonella DNA Found in Blood of Patients with Psychosis (2024)
Global Lyme Alliance, Investigating Bartonella Bacteria in Adults with Psychosis (2024)
Healthcare, Bransfield, Mao and Greenberg, Microbes and Mental Illness: Past, Present, and Future (2024)
Bay Area Lyme Foundation, Infectious Minds: Unraveling the Link Between Infections and Psychiatric Disorders (2023)
LymeDisease.org, When Lyme Is Misdiagnosed as Mental Illness: A Road to Nowhere (2022)
Psychiatric News, Lyme Disease Increases Risk for Mental Illness (2021)
Global Lyme Alliance, Lyme Disease and Mental Disorders Study (2021)
LymeDisease.org, Ignoring Psychiatric Lyme Disease at Our Peril (2019)
Disclaimer: Rise Above Lyme makes no claims about any possible benefit of using any product mentioned within this site. Always consult with your doctor before adding anything. The information shared is based on personal experience, years of accumulated researched resources from Lyme Literate doctors and polls conducted within Lyme groups from actual patient experience using these solution ideas.
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