# Are mental diseases communicable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450 "2011-08-12T13:06:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/1 "2011-08-12T13:06:43Z")
In his contribution to the _Unauthorized Freud: Doubters Confront A Legend_ anthology, a certain John Farrell (writer of a book called _Paranoia and Modernity: Cervantes to Rousseau_, which I am yet to read) states, in passing, “that suspicion is the most contagious of all attitudes next to simple fear, and that paranoia is the one communicable mental disease.” Is Farrell here stating a generally accepted consensus, or a minority opinion? Is paranoia indeed communicable? And if so, is it really true that it is the only mental disease that is? ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/2 "2011-08-12T13:19:42Z")
Depends what you mean, would [mass-hysteria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria) count? ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/3 "2011-08-12T13:20:20Z")
Do you mean communicable like the flu, by virus or bacteria? Probably not in the general sense. Do you mean communicable in the general sense that we say that people get “infected” with fear or paranoia? (Which is what I think was meant in this context, but IAMNApsychatrist). Yes, certainly. Look at certain groups in US society - rapture-ready Christians; survivalists waiting for the fall of civilisation; tea-baggers fearing death panels and socialism; … people can deliberately spread paranoia and others can get infected if they are weak in their defense. There’s also[folie a deux](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folie_%C3%A0_deux), where someone’s psychosis is shared by healthy partner. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/4 "2011-08-12T21:46:33Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > Do you mean communicable like the flu, by virus or bacteria? Probably not in the general sense. > > Do you mean communicable in the general sense that we say that people get “infected” with fear or paranoia? (Which is what I think was meant in this context, but IAMNApsychatrist). I meant communicable as in “capable of being transmitted from one person to another.” > [@constanze](#): > > Yes, certainly. Look at certain groups in US society - rapture-ready Christians; survivalists waiting for the fall of civilisation; tea-baggers fearing death panels and socialism; … people can deliberately spread paranoia and others can get infected if they are weak in their defense. I meant in the clinical, psychiatric sense of the word. > [@constanze](#): > > There’s also[folie a deux](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folie_%C3%A0_deux), where someone’s psychosis is shared by healthy partner. Now _that’s_ interesting! Found this, from the abstract of a Japanese study on the subject: > [@](#): > > Observed delusions of folie à deux in schizophrenic couples were classified into the following two categories, based on the subjective pronoun of the delusional statement: 1) We-type: “We are persecuted”, generally observed in cases of paranoid type schizophrenia, paranoid disorder, and shared paranoid disorder; 2) I-type: “I am persecuted”, observed in cases of non-paranoid schizophrenia in particular. It could be argued that the We-type suggests the establishment of a delusional community within participants not seen in the I-type delusion. However, according to clinical observations, even in We-type delusion, subjects ignored the wills and thoughts of their partners and somehow constructed the delusional community in a somewhat one-sided and egocentric way. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/5 "2011-08-13T01:32:56Z")
Creutzfeldt-Jakob is a communicable mental disease. Most of us don’t have to worry, though. It is transmitted by eating the brains of other humans. > **[Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease)** > > Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), also known as subacute spongiform encephalopathy or neurocognitive disorder due to prion disease, is an invariably fatal degenerative brain disorder. Early symptoms include memory problems, behavioral changes, poor coordination, and visual disturbances. Later symptoms include dementia, involuntary movements, blindness, weakness, and coma. About 70% of people die within a year of diagnosis. The name Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease was introduced by Walther CJD is caused ... ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/6 "2011-08-13T03:41:56Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > It is transmitted by eating the brains of other humans. I hope this becomes a zombie thread one day. It’d just be so appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![hodagg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@hodagg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hodagg)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/7 "2011-08-13T13:46:55Z")
Liberalism being a mental illness, it would certainly seem to be contagious. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/8 "2011-08-13T14:11:17Z")
> [@hodagg](#): > > Liberalism being a mental illness, it would certainly seem to be contagious. The only cure being complete collapse of civilization. Onward, Tea Party crusaders! ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/9 "2011-08-13T14:34:23Z")
> [@hodagg](#): > > Liberalism being a mental illness, it would certainly seem to be contagious. > [@Mosier](#): > > The only cure being complete collapse of civilization. Onward, Tea Party crusaders! Guys? Would you please do me a big, big favor and keep your partisan bickering out of my thread? Great, thanks, awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/10 "2011-08-13T16:14:11Z")
> [@hodagg](#): > > Liberalism being a mental illness, it would certainly seem to be contagious. > [@Mosier](#): > > The only cure being complete collapse of civilization. Onward, Tea Party crusaders! [Moderator Note] **hodagg** and **Mosier** , political jabs are not permitted in GQ. **Mosier** , you in particular have been around long enough to know this. No warning issued, but do not do this again. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/11 "2011-08-13T17:59:47Z")
Well, supposedly, insanity is hereditary in that you get it from your kids… ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/12 "2011-08-13T20:39:06Z")
without getting involved in partisan bickering, there is considerable research that shows that political attitudes are learned from neighbors. In particular paranoia can spread like that and, if you consider it a mental illness, then yes it is contagious. But I am nor sure the question really has a factual answer. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/13 "2011-08-13T22:46:43Z")
We have a general tendency to conform to our local norms. If the local norms are a belief in delusions, be they paranoid or otherwise, then as a general rule most normal people will conform to those beliefs. Of course if that is normative for the locale it is hard to call it “disease” … in that context not sharing in those delusions may be more the disease state … Truth is that [our actual memories change](http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6038/47.summary?sid=1229e6d8-7573-4270-8d15-ee7740b02b17) to conform to what we have heard others recall. From the full article on the other side of the wall I think: > [@](#): > > Storytellers routinely (and knowingly) embellish their stories in order to better capture an audience’s interest. Past research, however, has shown that storytellers can readily incorporate these seemingly inconsequential embellishments into their own memory of the original event (2). The situation becomes even more complex when a storyteller recollects an event in the presence of others who were present during the event. In this situation, the various players contribute to the group recollection. Each can relate events accurately, in turn updating and reinforcing the memories of the storyteller and other group members. But some members of the group may erroneously recall some details, which will tend to infect the storyteller’s record of events with distortions (or vice versa); psychologists call this process social contagion (3, 4). Particular perceptions of reality are contagious. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/14 "2011-08-14T00:05:31Z")
I can has [crazy](http://schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/002967.html)? Interesting article. Puts “crazy cat lady” in a different perspective. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/15 "2011-08-14T00:17:44Z")
Also… This is not totally what the OP is talking about, but I have an involuntary movement disorder. Most times it’s subtle and more like “unvoluntary” than “involuntary” in that I can be “good” if I’m mindful of what I’m doing. However, if I see someone who’s ticcing or stimming, it tends to make me not so good (especially since a bit of [echopraxia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echopraxia) has entered into my repertoire). I avoid shows featuring people with Tourette’s Syndrome, Parkinson’s, and autism for this reason. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/16 "2011-08-14T00:35:56Z")
More on mental health contagion. [Happiness not so much; but depression and anxiety apparently more so.](http://www-personal.umich.edu/~daneis/papers/MHcontagion.pdf) The contagion of suicidality is well established: not only are [family](http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/53/12/1145)members more likely to view suicide as a future option above and beyond any tendency to psychiatric issues in general, but ill-advised [media](http://abs.sagepub.com/content/46/9/1269.short) reporting leads to contagion as well. So as a matter of GQ it is untrue that paranoia is the only contagious mental illness. And I am unclear how contagious paranoia to the level of mental illness (e.g. paranoid personality disorder or paranoid schizophrenia) is as opposed to paranoid tendencies and beliefs, be they racial/group focused or otherwise, are. (Yes, folie à deux occurs, but not commonly. And it is hard to know how “healthy” the “healthy” partner was to start with; there may be some assortive mating by which those with similar tendencies and predispositions may be more likely to marry each other.) And a bit farther along than **monstro** ’s cat parasite/schizophrenia link is [PANDAS](http://www.ocfoundation.org/uploadedFiles/MainContent/Find_Help/PANDAS%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf) wherein strep is hypothesized to trigger off OCD flares in susceptible individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/17 "2011-08-14T15:12:41Z")
It is possible for children whose parents are depressed to pick up depression too. Does that fits the description of “communicable diseases” ? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/18 "2011-08-14T16:31:35Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Now _that’s_ interesting! Found this, from the abstract of a Japanese study on the subject: Watch [this](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tf1r4) documentary for an extremely interesting (and frightening) case of suspected _folie a deux_, where two Swedish twins behave extremely bizarrely on one of Britain’s busiest motorways before going completely nuts a few days later. (Hint: Youtube.) ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-mental-diseases-communicable/592450/19 "2011-08-14T17:10:48Z")
Fear = Paranoia = Mental disease? Then we are dependent on this particular “mental disease”: Without “fear”, I don’t think humanity would have made it this far.