mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
It’s an open question, though compelling new research is lending credence those who argue that they do. Neurobiologist (and recent Daily Show guest) Sharon Moalem outlines the theory in his new book, Survival of the Sickest. There’s a nasty little parasite named Toxoplasma gondii found in cat poo — and long known to be mildly toxic to small children and pregnant women — which when eaten by cat prey like rats and mice actually affects a behavioral change; it makes the rodents less afraid of cats, which in turn makes it easier for cats to catch them. So what’s the connection to schizophrenia? Moalem hypothesizes:
“People with schizophrenia have higher rates of infection with toxoplasmosis. Which doesn’t prove a causality, because the higher rates of infection may also be due to poor hygiene or spending time institutionalized. But the smoking gun for me has to do with toxoplasmosis having the ability to change another animals behavior as in the case of mice. I believe toxoplasmosis may be an added trigger not unlike drug use to make someone who’s already susceptible to schizophrenia all the more likely to get sick.”
So cat feces might be more than just toxic to kids — it might be increasing the chances that they’ll develop schizophrenia later in life. Crazy, huh?
Comments (23)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
Every time Animal Control has to take dozens of breeding cats from a hoarder’s house, I wonder if schizophrenia causes cats.
Maybe toxoplasmosis is a survival trait: Cats ==> toxoplasmosis ==> schizophrenic humans ==> hoarding cats ==> more cats ?
posted by Feline Alright? on 3-9-2007 at 3:51 pm
Every time Animal Control has to confiscate dozens of breeding cats from a hoarder’s house, I wonder if schizophrenia causes cats.
Maybe it’s a feline survival trait.
Cats cause toxoplasmosis, which causes schizophrenia, which causes compulsive cat hoarding, which causes more cats.
posted by Feline fine on 3-9-2007 at 3:53 pm
Feline X – that’s classic!!!
posted by Boris on 3-10-2007 at 6:07 am
I don’t like cats. I consider this statement rather a controversial, but who knows what sponge our pets cook for us :)
posted by Kontik on 3-10-2007 at 7:09 am
people who don’t like cats have control issues
it bothers them cause cats are less controllable than dogs
posted by kelly on 3-10-2007 at 12:28 pm
They should do a study comparing rates of schizophrenia in people who are allergic to cats versus those who aren’t…wouldn’t people who avoided cats their whole lives due to allergy be less likely to become schizophrenic?
As someone allergic to cats, I’d like to suggest that instead of viewing people with cat allergies like they’re broken, we should see it as an evolutionary advantage, haha.
posted by sass on 3-10-2007 at 2:47 pm
Kelly: I don’t like cats, but it has nothing to do with control; I can’t breathe when they’re around.
On second thought, maybe that is a control issue… I have this need to breathe, and I just won’t let it go.
posted by Dave on 3-11-2007 at 9:34 pm
I agree with Dave. I have this control issue… I want to control my breathing, and breaking out into hives. At least I’m not going schizo though.
posted by Scott on 3-12-2007 at 3:19 pm
Having to grow up in the shadows of my Mom’s being in and out of institutions due to schizophrenia, and knowing she was NEVER in the company of the wondrous world of felines, just makes me angry that an intelligent group/person has to use an animal as a scapegoat (no pun intended).
I do have cats in my life, and they only add to the nuances of my being able to balance in the twists and turns of everyday life.
Quite honestly, I find it much easier to be around people who actually give a damn about animals, and if they share their lives with them, even better. Had my Mom had the chance to have a loving cat to keep her company once-in-awhile, maybe she would not have felt so alone.
Schizophrenia is as individual as it is widespread. The ugly reality should be addressed, not pinning it’s possible origins on an animal which has been around long before any of this so-called ‘research’.
posted by Donna on 3-13-2007 at 7:57 am
Yeah Donna! I couldn’t agree with you more! Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that unfortunately we are still learning about. Like other brain disorders – ADHD, ADD, Bipolar, Unipolar, Autism, SADD, and more – doctors and researchers are still trying to put the puzzle pieces together. They’re making advances but still have a long way to go.
posted by Reba on 3-14-2007 at 8:11 am
Thanks, Donna Downer, for keeping this light.
posted by Flash on 3-14-2007 at 8:18 am
Thank you Donna for speaking your mind. I know several people with Schiaophrenia, including a great aunt who was disowned by her family because they didn’t understand he illness.
Flash- there is just nothing funny about this topic.
posted by Sarah W on 3-14-2007 at 11:23 am
The Chinese believe that those who do not like cats were a rat in a former life.
posted by Judy on 3-14-2007 at 1:04 pm
Cats rule, dogs drool. Ha ha ha
posted by Stephanie on 3-14-2007 at 3:29 pm
I’m sorry I missed this idiot on the Daily Show. Would have loved to have heard what Jon Stewart had to say.
posted by Ann Marie on 3-14-2007 at 4:58 pm
My little brother had schizophrenia until he killed himself last year. He had acute and chronic asthma and was allergic to cats all his life, so we never had them. His schizophrenia was triggered by a serious marijuana habit (at least that is what the doctors and psychs told us), so I find it quite interesting that nobody is comparing the statistics involved here; what about the number of people with schizophrenia compared to the number of cat owners (I bet there is a bit of a gulf between those numbers). How about the increase in the potency of marijuana compared to the increase in youth onset schizophrenia??? I’d like to see those stats…
posted by Catherine Fleming on 3-15-2007 at 6:31 pm
Hmmm. I have been owned by cats for years. I have smoked marijuana since I was 14 (I am 46). I am not schizophrenic(Yes I am!), and I do not believe either cats or marijuana have anything to do with suffering from schizophrenia (Yes they do! They both do!). Where did I leave my foil hat?!
posted by Miss Ann Thrope on 3-17-2007 at 5:51 am
IF YOU HAVE A DOG AND HOUSE IT AND FEED IT, TAKE REALLY GOOD CARE OF IT DAY TO DAY, THE DOG SAYS “WOW THEY (HUMANS) MUST BE GODS”
IF YOU HAVE A CAT AND HOUSE IT AND FEED IT, TAKE REALLY GOOD CARE OF IT DAY TO DAY, THE CAT SAYS “WOW I MUST BE A GOD” I CAN ONLY WONDER IF CATS ARE SCHIZOPHRENIC…..
posted by JOHN BROWN on 3-24-2007 at 2:03 pm
That explains the crazy cat lady on the Simpsons.
posted by MARXMITH on 1-25-2008 at 9:22 am
Actually the dog says “Is that food? Oh well, I’ll eat it anyway”
posted by Honkolologus on 9-27-2008 at 6:17 pm
Actually, everytime I hear about Animal Control coming to take cats away, the next part of the story is that the cat owner is taken for mental evaluation. So the “cat ownership = mental illness” seems to pass the anecdotal test, at least.
posted by Tom on 1-9-2009 at 9:14 pm
People with schizophrenia are the most chronic and disabling of the major mental illnesses. People with schizophrenia may have bizarre thoughts, avoid social contact, behave oddly; In addition, people with schizophrenia frequently require hospitalization because they pose a danger to themselves.
Charles
posted by Charles on 2-17-2009 at 2:18 am
Well, seeing as how marijuana actually expands the mind [though not always positively], I can clearly see how it could be associated with schizophrenia.
I’m schizo myself, and marijuana honestly does tend to increase the symptoms.
On another note, I’ve pondered on this subject ever since I heard there might be a link between cats and schizo on the news.
I don’t believe it to be cat shit. I mean seriously, does someone just walk up and,…”Ohh look, a tootsie roll.”?
No. I think even small children have enough sense to not eat shit; or play with it for that matter.
I personally believe it to be linked with the cats behavior, in that it can stare blankly at you for hours on end and all you can do is sit and look at it wondering.
Seeing as how schizophrenia is technically “To Split Mind”, I can see how thinking about cat’s thoughts can drive one to such an outcome; just as questioning our existence or if the universe ever ends [and if it does, what's there?] can drive you into a circle of thinking that cannot be broken. I dub it Broken Record Syndrome.
Call me crazy, just a concept.
posted by Stephen on 5-31-2009 at 9:58 pm