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Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

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Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#21

Post by wincy »

daysforbeef wrote: post #20
jjtheblunt wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i realize you're joking, but it made me think: i wonder if there are any correlations about "not having a pet" with egocentrism.

I feel people who own pets don't see things from a pet's perspective. But that's probably just me. Having someone love you based on sort of sort weird stockholm-syndrome based relationship is weird. The cat comment, as much as it's a joke I have seen most folks around me who own cats have this need for constant drama. And Goodness, no matter how much the cats randomly lashes out at these owners, the owners still love…

I found my cat outside in the dead of winter, she came inside voluntarily, I got her fixed, and I keep her fed. I nursed her back to health when something bit open her leg while she was outside. She goes out pretty much every day and is waiting for me at the door when I get home. I mean, the alternative is the cat being a stray or being put down in a shelter, are either of those better?

I don't have to go home every day to my wife, but I still choose to. I don't think that's "Stockholm Syndrome", just a good situation that I want to continue.

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#23

Post by norea-armozel »

gwern wrote: post #3

If you look at the abstract, all of the correlations actually show that having a cat does predict mental illness at all ages considered. But the effect sizes are relatively low (albeit consistent with the more direct studies looking at people actually infected with toxoplasma rather than people who might be infected), so with a few hundred or thousand people, it technically doesn't satisfy p for toxoplasma having bad…

I think for most people in the world, pork products are more likely to be a source of the parasite than cats though. And there's quite a few people who eat pork even outside the US.

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#24

Post by rosser »

daysforbeef wrote: post #20
jjtheblunt wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i realize you're joking, but it made me think: i wonder if there are any correlations about "not having a pet" with egocentrism.

I feel people who own pets don't see things from a pet's perspective. But that's probably just me. Having someone love you based on sort of sort weird stockholm-syndrome based relationship is weird. The cat comment, as much as it's a joke I have seen most folks around me who own cats have this need for constant drama. And Goodness, no matter how much the cats randomly lashes out at these owners, the owners still love…

> But anecdotal evidence doesn't count for much haha

Don't discount confirmation bias. I'd bet that's also in play, in your narrative about "cat people".

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#25

Post by cowpewter »

daysforbeef wrote: post #20
jjtheblunt wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i realize you're joking, but it made me think: i wonder if there are any correlations about "not having a pet" with egocentrism.

I feel people who own pets don't see things from a pet's perspective. But that's probably just me. Having someone love you based on sort of sort weird stockholm-syndrome based relationship is weird. The cat comment, as much as it's a joke I have seen most folks around me who own cats have this need for constant drama. And Goodness, no matter how much the cats randomly lashes out at these owners, the owners still love…

If a cat is "randomly lashing out" at their owners, then yeah, that's a pretty good sign that the owners don't see things from the cat's perspective.

Cat social behavior has its own internal consistency though. Usually the problem starts when people expect cats to behave like dogs. They don't have the same motivations as dogs at all.

Learn cat body language, and understand that cats see us as big, weird, slightly dumb, hairless cats that belong to the same "cat colony" as them, and nothing a cat does will seem "random" anymore.

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#26

Post by daysforbeef »

rosser wrote: post #24
daysforbeef wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel people who own pets don't see things from a pet's perspective. But that's probably just me. Having someone love you based on sort of sort weird stockholm-syndrome based relationship is weird. The cat comment, as much as it's a joke I have seen most folks around me who own cats have this need for constant drama. And Goodness, no matter how much the cats randomly lashes out at these owners, the owners still love…

> But anecdotal evidence doesn't count for much haha Don't discount confirmation bias. I'd bet that's also in play, in your narrative about "cat people".

yep yep true and most likely true

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#27

Post by jcslzr »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #14
daysforbeef wrote: post #2

Having a cat may not cause mental illness, just that in my experience having a cat is a sign of mental illness

i realize you're joking, but it made me think: i wonder if there are any correlations about "not having a pet" with egocentrism.

"not having" maybe not, but I try to stay away of anyone who does not like dogs or music. Something is fundamentally wrong with those people.

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#28

Post by pvaldes »

holografix wrote: post #11

Is there a simple, accurate and cost efficient test for toxoplasma? I got a cat 2 years ago... it never leaves the apartment on the 7th floor and never comes in contact with other cats. However it is a rescue cat so could have been infected before adoption.

Your pet is not even remotely close to the cats risk group.

Only the 0,7% on average of the cats drop oocysts in its faeces and it still will take 1 to 5 days for this oocysts to activate and be able to transmite the disease. If you clean daily the litter box of your cat with gloves and you are not pregnant or inmunocompromised the problem is greatly minimized.

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#29

Post by daysforbeef »

cowpewter wrote: post #25
daysforbeef wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel people who own pets don't see things from a pet's perspective. But that's probably just me. Having someone love you based on sort of sort weird stockholm-syndrome based relationship is weird. The cat comment, as much as it's a joke I have seen most folks around me who own cats have this need for constant drama. And Goodness, no matter how much the cats randomly lashes out at these owners, the owners still love…

If a cat is "randomly lashing out" at their owners, then yeah, that's a pretty good sign that the owners don't see things from the cat's perspective. Cat social behavior has its own internal consistency though. Usually the problem starts when people expect cats to behave like dogs. They don't have the same motivations as dogs at all. Learn cat body language, and understand that cats see us as big, weird, slightly dum…

With all due respect, I will never understand how that statement differs from trying to understand the ways of an abusive ex and trying to thread carefully based on it? pretty sure the abusive nature comes from somewhere and then for some darn reason I'm walking on egg shells when I could pretty much invest my time in a more nicer manner. Unless you think that putting up with complete crap is something people ought to aspire to do (don't mean to come up as an asshole, but seriously mate?)

Re: Having a Cat Does Not Cause Mental Illness, New Study Suggests

#30

Post by beojan »

jessriedel wrote: post #17
gwern wrote: post #3

If you look at the abstract, all of the correlations actually show that having a cat does predict mental illness at all ages considered. But the effect sizes are relatively low (albeit consistent with the more direct studies looking at people actually infected with toxoplasma rather than people who might be infected), so with a few hundred or thousand people, it technically doesn't satisfy p for toxoplasma having bad…

The jump from "we could not detect a difference" to "there is no difference" is so frustrating. (And this is a mistake the authors make in this case, not just the journalists.)

They did say "no evidence of a link" in the title and abstract, though the conclusion at the end of the abstract unfortunately says the study strongly suggests there is no link. Given the quoted odds ratios are > 1, this is a strange statement to make.
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