New England Psychologist - The Online Newspaper for Regions's Psychologists

Leo J. Shea, Ph.D

Leo J. Shea , Ph.D. (photo by Tom Croke)

By Ami Albernaz

Mood disturbances, difficulty concentrating, impaired cognitive processing - all are symptoms that can be linked to an array of diagnoses. Yet some psychologists argue that one possible culprit is often overlooked, setting unknown numbers of people on ineffectual courses of treatment. The culprit: Lyme disease.

Just as physicians might mistake Lyme disease for multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease or chronic fatigue syndrome, psychologists might misdiagnose it as attention deficit disorder, Tourette's syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome, says Leo J. Shea, Ph.D., chairman emeritus of the National Research Fund for Tick-Borne Diseases, Inc.

The threat of Lyme disease is particularly relevant in New England, most which is deemed high or moderate risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though Lyme disease can be effectively treated with antibiotics, it can cause chronic joint ache and neurological problems if undiagnosed.

Identifying Lyme disease is tricky because "no one has been able to come up with a gold standard for diagnosis or for treatment," says Shea, who is also a clinical assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at New York University Medical Center and maintains a private practice in Quincy, Mass. While tests for antibodies to the spirochete bacteria that cause the illness do exist, they are not foolproof. A person who has recently been bitten by a tick may not produce antibodies for a few weeks, resulting in a false negative. People with compromised immune systems may not produce antibodies at all. Additionally, the symptoms of Lyme disease, such as memory impairment, subtle deficits in visual processing and fatigue, can be non-specific. [More]

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