---
title: "Psych News Alert: Parasite Linked to Increased Risk for Suicide"
description: Individuals infected with Toxoplasmosis gondii  ( T. gondii ), a parasite that normally thrives in cats, are at greater risk for attempting ...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_56105848-Jun-24-2025-04-32-05-9027-PM.jpg
---

 8/24/12 12:00 AM

# Parasite Linked to Increased Risk for Suicide

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Individuals infected with *Toxoplasmosis gondii* (*T. gondii*), a parasite that normally thrives in cats, are at greater risk for attempting suicide, according to an August report in the *Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.* A cross-sectional, observational study compared *T. gondii* serointensity and seropositivity in plasma from 54 adult suicide attempters who were inpatients at Lund University Hospital in Lund, Sweden, and 30 adult control subjects who were randomly selected from the municipal population register in Lund. Seropositivity and serointensity of *T. gondii* were positively associated with a history of nonfatal suicidal self-directed violence.

Researchers also measured the potential of patients and controls for self-directed violence using the self-rated Suicide Assessment Scale. They found that seropositivity of *T. gondii* was associated with higher scores on the self-rated scale for the whole sample, regardless of suicidal history.

Other research into *T. gondii* has found a link to development of schizophrenia. For information on that topic, see *Psychiatric News *[here](http://pnhw.psychiatryonline.org/content/45/6/1.2.full) and the *American Journal of Psychiatry* [here](http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=116007).

(Image: kentoh/shutterstock.com)

[suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [Toxoplasmosis gondii](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/toxoplasmosis-gondii)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/parasitic%20worm_70097845-Jun-24-2025-05-21-01-8848-PM.jpg?height=200&name=parasitic%20worm_70097845-Jun-24-2025-05-21-01-8848-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/07/a-parasite-is-linked-with-suicide-risk.html)

[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [toxoplasma gondii](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/toxoplasma-gondii)

## [A Parasite Is Linked With Suicide Risk](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/07/a-parasite-is-linked-with-suicide-risk.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 7/23/12 12:00 AM

In a large prospective study of some 46,000 women in which levels of antibodies to the parasite...

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[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/parasite_109800110-Jun-24-2025-04-20-57-8500-PM.jpg?height=200&name=parasite_109800110-Jun-24-2025-04-20-57-8500-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/11/could-there-be-link-between-parasite.html)

[suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [toxoplasma gondii](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/toxoplasma-gondii), [employment opportunities for people with schizophr](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/employment-opportunities-for-people-with-schizophr)

## [Could There Be a Link Between Parasite and Suicidal Behavior?](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/11/could-there-be-link-between-parasite.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 11/26/12 12:00 AM

In a large prospective study, an association was found between the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2012/11/could-there-be-link-between-parasite.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Cats-2-497213179_sm-4.jpg?height=200&name=Cats-2-497213179_sm-4.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/02/cat-ownership-not-linked-to-increased.html)

[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychosis), [psychiatric epidemiology](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatric-epidemiology), [psychotic experiences](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychotic-experiences), [child and adolescent psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/child-and-adolescent-psychiatry), [infectious disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/infectious-disease), [Toxoplasmosis gondii](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/toxoplasmosis-gondii)

## [Cat Ownership Not Linked to Increased Risk of Psychosis](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/02/cat-ownership-not-linked-to-increased.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 2/23/17 12:00 AM

Does having a cat increase the risk of psychosis in humans? House cats are often carriers of the...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/02/cat-ownership-not-linked-to-increased.html)

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