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| Cats: lovely, friendly, and unlikely to make you psychotic. Photo via Adobe Stock. |
Last year, there were some brouhahas and kerfuffles over the
subject of cats and mental illness. Specifically, research suggested that
people who have cats are more likely than others to become psychotic because
they are exposed to the parasite Toxoplasma
gondii (see "Blaming Cats for Human Aggression"). But a new study has found no link between cat ownership and
psychosis.
The new study was published in Psychological Medicine. It followed about 5,000 people from when they were born in
1991 or 1992 until they were 18. The researchers also had data on whether there were cats in the house during the subjects' childhood or while their mothers were pregnant with them. The study found no
link between the presence of a cat and the development of psychosis. This study
is considered more reliable than previous studies because it looked at a larger
population over a longer period of time.
And the millions upon millions of people who have lived
their whole lives with cats without becoming psychotic say, “We told you so.”
Who makes up this nonsense? You want to know who's to blame for human aggression? Yep. Humanity. And cats are often the recipient of that cruelty because much of humanity has no respect for life. Bear Cat saved my life in more ways than I can count ... depression, anxiety, PTSD, a bit of OCD, and a raging eating disorder ... he did what no human could manage in loving me no matter what. Not bad for a formerly homeless, starving, but incredibly affectionate, kitten I just crossed paths with one day :)
ReplyDeleteReading stupid studies like this makes me psychotic, but cats don't :)
ReplyDeleteWhew, I'm so relieved! Crazy people to think up such things, just to give cats more of a bad rap.
ReplyDeleteWhat is more soothing than having 5 purring cats sleeping with you?
ReplyDeletepsychotic- bah!