Infections and Personality Disorders (Infectious Diseases Effects on Personality Traits)

We've all heard many kinds of stories, whether on the news or in your local newspaper...people going stark raving mad over little things; but especially in their last days - or when seriously ill.

How many people have you met that have taken a turn for the worst - mentally, due to serious PHYSICAL illness? Have you ever known someone dying with Liver Failure to NOT exhibit signs of Depression? There's also cases where people with Tuberculosis have had their brains swell [1], but not before it wreaked havoc on their personalities; causing chronic fatigue and borderline type traits [2], as well as Depression and odd eccentric behavior [3].

Then you have people that already have vicious antisocial personalities and a serious illness (such as Cancer, AIDS or TB) makes those traits even worse [4]...in some cases people that know they have deadly infections try to spread them intentionally (like the "HIV killer" Nushawn Williams) [5].

...But what we are here to discuss today is specifically the precursors to personality disorders that are NOT otherwise visible UNTIL infection. The research has been adding up for decades. 

If you aren't already convinced infectious diseases play a role in mental illness, read this little bulletin below first - then we get to the good stuff (or awful stuff).

• Influenza has been proven to influence neurotransmission in the Brain of humans and other mammals  [6] [7], it can and has been associated with onset of Depression and worsening of Depression symptoms [8].
• Zika Virus; a mosquito-borne virus has the ability to cause brain inflammation and NOT just in infants who get the virus in utero [9].
• Hepatitis B can destroy/degrade the Adrenal Cortex [10], this can lead to personality changes associated with deficiencies in DHEA-S and ACTH [11].
• Tuberculosis can also destroy the Adrenal gland or at least weaken it [12], but has higher efficiency in infiltrating adrenal gland cells than many other pathogens [13].
• HIV can also diminish adrenal function; both by inducing inflammation [14] and by infecting adrenal-cortical cells [15].
• Ebola Virus can abolish normal adrenal function before it wreaks other havoc on the body [16].
• Lyme Disease (from ticks) can diminish adrenal function and cause Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), among other things [17].
• Herpes Virus strains, perhaps the most notable (and rememberable) of all, can directly infiltrate the central nervous system as a FIRST-STEP and this often happens BEFORE sores/blisters develop [18] [19].

Psychology Today also wrote a small article mainly focusing on Lyme disease and cases where it resulted in the development of a violent personality and subsequent homicidal actions [20]

The Evidence that Infections Contribute to the Development of Personality Disorders

In a large study in Mexico, Hepatitis B infections led to longer inpatient stays in mental patients and those seropositive (infected with) for Hepatitis B showed increased schizotypal traits [21].

Streptococcal infections (strep throat) (Group A) showed that in Pediatric patients, increased susceptibility to obsessive-compulsive characteristics became apparent as well as prevalence of Tics disorder (motor tics) [22].

Zika Virus infections are associated with increased global risk of mental illness of all types; including personality disorders [23]. 

Tuberculosis infections are known to precede Borderline Personality Disorders in many cases [24], though conditioning and childhood upbringing are thought to be more significant factors [25].

Lyme Disease is implicated (in some cases) in the development of Schizoaffective disorder [!].

West Nile Virus was shown in some cases to lead to lasting cognitive impairment, agitation, Depression and personality changes [!]

Dengue Fever, another mosquito-carried illness, has been found to cause behavioral changes most prominently, Anxiety and neurotic-states [!].

Mechanisms for Infection Induced Alteration of Human Behavior

• Since a large amount of the above mentioned infectious diseases infiltrate or negatively impact the adrenal glands, the subsequent personality trait induction or amplification has a large degree of correlation with DHEA-S [26] [27] deficiency as well as ACTH deficiency [28].
• In layman's terms, that means that infectious diseases lead to decreased levels of vital hormones that keep all of our body systems working in harmony [29].