Infectious Madness

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AUG 10, 2015

Washington (Deadly Monopolies) brings her controversy-chasing style to the fringes of medical research, examining the idea that many of diseases commonly thought of as psychological ailments and treated as such are actually caused by microbial infection. Believing that acknowledgement of infectious etiology for mental illness would lead to better prevention, understanding, and treatment, Washington accuses the psychological and medical communities of adhering to a "reductionist anachronism of mind/body dualism" and being prone to the "Semmelweis reflex," the tendency to reject paradigm shifts because they upset the status quo. She begins by discussing well-established relationships, including the connection between syphilis and its late-stage paresis, before moving on to address Susan Swedo's work on pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and studies that attempt to connect schizophrenia to a range of infections during fetal development. Washington overextends her premise to explore culture-bound diseases such as "Khmer blindness," the functions of the enteric nervous system and its potential connection to autism, a general war on microscopic pathogens, and problems of infection in the developing world. Her sloppy scientific thinking and the vehemence with which she blames the establishment for ignoring the research into communicable mental illness make this more a political diatribe than a tale of surprising science.