Can living with a cat cause mental disorders? This says science
Last year, several studies reported that cohabiting with a cat during childhood could have serious repercussions on people's mental health. In addition, it was also pointed out that girls and boys would appear to be more likely to suffer from serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and others.
But in this instance, a new study conducted at the University College London refutes this theory to demonstrate exhaustively that having lived with a cat during childhood does not cause mental illness in the future.
Mental illnesses and cats
A scientific research team from England studied people who were born and raised in homes with cats in different periods, either during pregnancy, early years or childhood. The results showed that these people have no greater risk of suffering from psychotic diseases, mainly between the ages of 13 and 18 years.
The study included 5 thousand children born between 1991 and 1992 and the results contradict previous studies, demonstrating that coexistence with cats is safe in terms of mental health.
Toxoplasma gondii responsible for mental illness
In previous studies, teams of specialists proposed that these effects of living with cats on mental health could be the result of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, which has been linked on several occasions with mental illness in animals.
This parasite is one of the most common in developing countries and around 50% of the global population was exposed or could be infected with this parasite. It can be transmitted to the human from the fecal matter of infected cats, although there is also a way of transmission through poorly cooked and poorly washed vegetables.
Also, this does not mean that all cats are infected with this parasite or that coexistence could generate an infection in humans. And in what refers to the studies that supported this theory, the results are not representative, since the study itself was conducted in a very unrepresentative portion of the population.
Sensationalism minimizes the severity of mental illness
The problem with these studies, which did not generate reliable results but exciting and impressive headlines, is that they minimize the real threat of these diseases.
Mental illnesses are the reality of 450 million people in the world. The vast majority condition the lives of these people, making it difficult for them to enter society and the workplace. However, this kind of studies and hasty conclusions, motivated by sensationalism, trivialize the complex and harsh reality of mental illness.
The parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a great threat to every animal and precautions must be taken to prevent its transmission. However, there is no relationship between having cats since childhood and suffering from mental illness due to this parasite.
Mental illnesses are often the result of physiological and psychological factors, but they do not arise from living with cats. Maybe with humans, but that would be a much more exhaustive study.