---
title: "Psych News Alert: Could There Be a Link Between Parasite and Suicidal Behavior?"
description: In a large prospective study, an association was found between the parasite Toxoplasma gondii and suicidal behavior. The finding appears in ...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/parasite_109800110-Jun-24-2025-04-20-57-8500-PM.jpg
---

 11/26/12 12:00 AM

# Could There Be a Link Between Parasite and Suicidal Behavior?

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In a large prospective study, an association was found between the parasite *Toxoplasma gondii *and suicidal behavior. The finding appears in the November *Archives of General Psychiatry.* The senior scientist was Teodor Postolache, M.D., director of the mood and anxiety program at the University of Maryland.

"This study is very interesting," Paul Links, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, and a suicide expert, told *Psychiatric News. *"But what mechanisms might explain the association? Association does not necessarily mean that there is a causal relationship...."

Postolache agrees. "We obviously hypothesized that *T. gondii *can affect the brain and lead to suicide attempts," he said in an interview with *Psychiatric News. *"But it's also possible that people at risk for suicide might have an increased risk of becoming *T. gondii*-positive." For example, the major source of *T. gondii *in developed countries is undercooked meat, Postolache noted, "so it could be that people who are more impulsive [and thus more at risk of suicide] may also be more prone to eating a steak that is rare rather than well done."

*T. gondii *has also beeen implicated in some cases of schizophrenia. Read more about that link in *Psychiatric News * [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=113264)  and [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=116656) .

(Image: Pan Xunbin/Shutterstock.com)

[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)

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