Could a Childhood Infection Lead to Mental Health Issues?

After reviewing the health records of more than one million persons, researchers report that individuals who had been hospitalized with an infection as children were 84% more likely to have received a diagnosis for one or more mental health conditions (schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality and behavior disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, or tics, for example) later in life. Lead researcher Dr. Ole KohlerForsberg writes, “The findings linking infections with mental disorders in the developing brain do add more knowledge to this growing field, showing that there exists an intimate connection between the body and the brain.” JAMA Psychiatry, December 2018