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Viruses, Immunity and Mental Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

David J. King  and
Stephen J. Cooper
David J. King*
Affiliation:
Department of Therapeutics and Pharmacology, The Queen's University of Belfast, and Consultant Psychiatrist, Holywell Hospital, Northern Ireland
Stephen J. Cooper
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, The Queen's University of Belfast, The Whitla Medical Building, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland
*
∗ Correspondence
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Extract

Are viruses the cause of mental illness, or does stress or mental disorder produce impaired immunity, with increased susceptibility to infection? These two separate but not unrelated questions have been debated periodically and there has been much renewed interest recently, with increased sophistication in immunology and widespread topical concern about immunodeficiency. The neuropsychiatry of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Snider et al, 1983; Carne & Adler, 1986; Wortis, 1986; Burton, 1987; Fenton, 1987) and the validity of a ‘post-viral fatigue syndrome’ as a clinical entity (Behan, 1983; Southern & Oldstone, 1986; Dawson, 1987; David et al, 1988) are not discussed here, but have been dealt with in the editorials and reviews cited.

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The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 154 , Issue 1 , January 1989 , pp. 1 - 7
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Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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