Aggressiveness, violence, homicidality, homicide, and Lyme disease

Abstract

BackgroundNo study has previously analyzed aggressiveness, homicide, and Lyme disease (LD).Materials and methodsRetrospective LD chart reviews analyzed aggressiveness, compared 50 homicidal with 50 non-homicidal patients, and analyzed homicides.ResultsMost aggression with LD was impulsive, sometimes provoked by intrusive symptoms, sensory stimulation or frustration and was invariably bizarre and senseless. About 9.6% of LD patients were homicidal with the average diagnosis delay of 9 years. Postinfection findings associated with homicidality that separated from the non-homicidal group within the 95% confidence interval included suicidality, sudden abrupt mood swings, explosive anger, paranoia, anhedonia, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle, disinhibition, nightmares, depersonalization, intrusive aggressive images, dissociative episodes, derealization, intrusive sexual images, marital/family problems, legal problems, substance abuse, depression, panic disorder, memory impairments, neuropathy, cranial nerve symptoms, and decreased libido. Seven LD homicides included predatory aggression, poor impulse control, and psychosis. Some patients have selective hyperacusis to mouth sounds, which I propose may be the result of brain dysfunction causing a disinhibition of a primitive fear of oral predation.ConclusionLD and the immune, biochemical, neurotransmitter, and the neural circuit reactions to it can cause impairments associated with violence. Many LD patients have no aggressiveness tendencies or only mild degrees of low frustration tolerance and irritability and pose no danger; however, a lesser number experience explosive anger, a lesser number experience homicidal thoughts and impulses, and much lesser number commit homicides. Since such large numbers are affected by LD, this small percent can be highly significant. Much of the violence associated with LD can be avoided with better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of LD.

Monitoring of Nesting Songbirds Detects Established Population of Blacklegged Ticks and Associated Lyme Disease Endemic Area in Canada

“…When biofilm busters are implemented prior to blood draw, they help to activate the immune response and provide more reliable serological testing [107]. Psychiatric illnesses, caused by Bbsl, may include violence, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities [108][109][110]. Chronic Lyme disease frequently causes severe disability, and potentially gives rise to central nervous system complications and cognitive impairment [49,50,61,90].…”

Detection and Transstadial Passage of Babesia Species and Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in Ticks Collected from Avian and Mammalian Hosts in Canada

“…Often, patients advance to chronic Lyme disease before they get diagnosed and treated. Psychiatric illness, caused by Lyme disease, may include violence, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities [130][131][132]. Lyme disease may cause severe and potentially fatal central nervous system complications.…”

“…Fatal neurological impairments include seizures, grand mal seizures, chronic meningoencephalomyelitis, massive hypocephalus, epilepticus, ependymitis, progressive encephalitis, cerebral atrophy, periventricular white matter disease, and irreversible brain injury [133][134][135]. When the pathologies of neuroborreliosis are unrelenting, the pain in musculoskeletal tissues is unbearable, and somnolence is unending, Lyme disease patients sometimes resort to suicide [130][131][132]. Ultimately, this severely debilitating illness can be fatal [12,116,117,119,[133][134][135].…”

Differentiating Psychosomatic, Somatopsychic, Multisystem Illnesses and Medical Uncertainty

“…This led to tragic delays in diagnosis and treatment to both patients. The first author has seen and published descriptions of many other tragic cases in his practice [57][58][59][60][61][62].…”