Sorry your mom has had to suffer with Lyme for so long. It can be so life-altering. Lyme & the coinfections ( Babesia & Bartonella) can cause many neuropsychiatric symptoms including OCD, bipolar, depression, rage & anxiety. These are not emotional responses to the illness but rather organic symptoms caused by these organisms. Remember Lyme is a spirochete as is syphilis & we know syphilis can cause mental illness. The Lyme spirochete is far more sophisticated than is the syphilis spirochete. It can change forms & evade the immune system as well as antibiotics. It can bore into your cells. It can get into the brain & wreak havoc. It is easy to misread symptoms as emotional or separate from Lyme when in fact they are often directly caused by Lyme (and/or coinfections) and totally outside the control of the patient.
That being said, some people do become overly obsessed about Lyme & ticks. I counsel people to stay off the Lyme facebook groups where patients refer to themselves as Lymeys & talk Lyme disease 24/7. It's worse than the boneyard,lol. I get it. Lyme can be very isolating because of the misunderstanding it can cause with friends & family. Many long-time sufferers lose all friends & family & suffer alone. These groups may be the only place they can get understanding & contact with other human beings. So I get why patients go there. Still, its not good to get so immersed in Lyme that it's all you think & talk about. As I like to say to those that want to talk Lyme 24/7 (especially the Lyme politics) & refer to themselves as a Lymey, Lyme is an illness not a hobby.
