LYME & TICKBORNE CO-INFECTIONS PRESENTING AS PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS:

The Problem We're Missing:
Imagine nearly half a million Americans getting a tick bite this year that leads to depression, anxiety, or even psychosis – but instead of getting treated for the infection, they're prescribed antidepressants. This shocking reality affects 40% or more of patients with Lyme disease, yet most doctors and patients have no idea these "psychiatric" symptoms could actually be caused by hidden infections attacking the brain.

What We're Discovering:
Cutting-edge research reveals that Lyme disease and its notorious co-conspirators – Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Mycoplasma, and Rickettsia – don't just cause joint pain and fatigue. These stealth pathogens cross the blood-brain barrier, trigger massive neuroinflammation, and hijack neurotransmitter production, creating psychiatric symptoms that are virtually indistinguishable from primary mental health disorders.

The Clinical Reality:
Borrelia (Lyme) creates treatment-resistant depression and "brain fog" that antidepressants can't touch
Bartonella triggers explosive rage episodes and sudden-onset anxiety that seems to come from nowhere
Babesia destroys red blood cells, starving the brain of oxygen and causing panic attacks with air hunger
Mycoplasma can transform healthy children overnight into kids with severe OCD, tics, and school refusal

Why We're Missing It:
Standard Lyme testing fails 40-60% of the time, especially in early infection when treatment would be most effective. Most doctors receive minimal training on tickborne diseases and aren't taught to recognize psychiatric presentations. The result? Patients bounce between psychiatrists and therapists for years while the real culprit – brain inflammation from chronic infection – goes undiagnosed and untreated.

The Game-Changing Solution:
This presentation reveals how a functional medicine or functional psychiatric approach can transform outcomes by:
- Recognizing pathogen-specific psychiatric "fingerprints"
- Testing with advanced laboratories that detect hidden co-infections
- Treating the root cause with targeted antimicrobials plus comprehensive anti-inflammatory protocols
- Restoring brain health through detoxification, immune support, and neurotransmitter repair

Real Patient Transformations:
We'll share compelling cases including a 14-year-old honor student who went from psychiatric hospitalization for suicidal ideation to complete recovery in six months, and a 45-year-old software engineer who regained his career and life after years of failed psychiatric treatments – all through addressing underlying tickborne infections.

Who Needs This Information:
Any healthcare provider treating Tickborne Infections OR treating depression, anxiety, ADHD, or behavioral disorders – especially when patients aren't responding to standard treatments. Parents watching children with sudden personality changes. Adults struggling with treatment-resistant psychiatric symptoms. Anyone working in areas where Lyme disease is endemic.

The Bottom Line:
When psychiatric medications fail, when symptoms appear suddenly, when multiple family members are affected – think infection. This presentation provides the clinical tools to recognize, diagnose, and successfully treat one of medicine's most overlooked root causes of psychiatric disease.

The paradigm shift is simple: Stop asking "What psychiatric medication should we try next?" and start asking "What infection might be causing these psychiatric symptoms?"