As silly as it sounds, psychiatrists would like you to believe that cats could have something to do with your mental health.  They have put forth information linking cats to schizophrenia which is based only on speculation and convenient correlations, not any scientific studies.  This is just another desperate attempt to make mental disorders look physiological rather than what they really are, which are just names for various types of human behavior.

Historically, psychiatrists were the ones that dealt with crazy people.  Today, that image has been replaced with psychiatrists being mental health “experts.”  They have put forth all sorts of theories to explain so-called mental illnesses or disorders and the different ways to treat them.  Lacking scientific proof to validate their theories, they continue to promote false ideas and dangerous methods of treatment.
While lying on a couch, people have spent countless hours talking, only to be told they have classic symptoms of Freud’s Oedipal Complex.  The mental health of many others has been negatively evaluated only because of the answers they gave to Rorschach’s Inkblot test.   More recently, without any medical tests whatsoever, millions of people have been told and continue to be told that they have a chemical imbalance in the brain which automatically guarantees them a mental disorder diagnosis and a prescription for dangerous mind-altering drugs as treatment.
Now we can add some additional nonsense to this endless history of false information and false science.  Psychiatrists are saying that cats are the possible culprit of causing schizophrenia!  Apparently cats are the natural host to a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii.  However, when that parasite is in another host such as a mouse, it seems to alter the behavior of this unnatural host to a marked degree.  The behavior of the mouse is irrational to the extent that the mouse loses its fear of cats and of course then proceeds to get eaten by the cat.  This “fatal attraction” behavior is interesting for sure, but is not acceptable as a link to schizophrenia.
Toxoplasmosis is the resulting infection in humans carrying this parasite.  If you are in good physical health, then you might not even notice that you have toxoplasmosis, or “toxo.” It is not a medical concern as mild flu-like symptoms occur or no symptoms at all.  It is estimated that up to one third of the world’s population has this infection.  Where is the “fatal attraction” behavior in all those people?  Are psychiatrists implying that one third of the world’s population has schizophrenia?
Logic is lacking here.  It seems that psychiatrists are desperately looking for a physical cause of schizophrenia which doesn’t exist.  Just because some schizophrenia cases have tested positive for toxo, it doesn’t explain the billions of people who also have it and are normal functioning members of society without any mental health problems.
It would be logical to skip the entire mental health route and address possible physical causes of irrational behavior (like schizophrenia) or any other mental health problem.   Since it is known that toxo can have an adverse effect on one’s behavior, then it would be smart to test for it and if found to be positive, then the mystery is solved.  This is a perfect example of how irrational behavior is not rooted in the mind.  How logical would it be to first diagnose a “mental illness,” which here is really a medical condition, then treat it with drugs known to have horrendous side effects? Obviously it is simpler and more effective to detect and treat the underlying physical condition.
The point is that psychiatrists are trying to tell you that you can “catch” schizophrenia like you can catch a cold! They are still preaching that mental illness really exists by trying to get you to believe that it can come from an infection or virus, like real diseases do.   But all it really boils down to is that in some people a parasite is causing irrational behavior, end of story, no mental health issues involved here at all.
The other supposed link to schizophrenia from cats is that the parasite is able to increase the production of dopamine.  Dopamine is the chemical in your brain that helps relay messages and directs behavior to a degree.  Psychiatrists claim that there is “growing evidence” that schizophrenics have more dopamine than regular folks, thus the supposed “correlation” between the cat parasite and schizophrenia.
It is totally absurd to suggest that the parasite gets in us like the mouse and alters our behavior as it alters our brain’s dopamine system and then call it a psychiatric condition!  Let’s get things straight here.  A physical condition is treatable and not a mental health problem.  Without any scientific evidence to confirm validity, don’t buy into the false information given by mental health “experts.”  Do your homework and get the facts.  Then as you drive through life, you won’t get lost and make a wrong turn going down the psychiatric drug road to nowhere.
 
http://www.secondopinionnewsletter.com/Health-Alert-Archive/View-Archive/2000/Are-cats-driving-us-crazy.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001661/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis