How Infection Can Cause Psychiatric Symptoms in Children | Episode 73 with Dr. Rosalie Greenberg

Dr. Rosalie Greenberg is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist with decades of clinical experience, and she joins us to unpack how her understanding of pediatric mental illness radically shifted over the course of her career. Trained at Columbia during the early days of pediatric mood disorder research, Dr. Greenberg became a specialist in childhood bipolar disorder before encountering mounting evidence that many of these severe psychiatric presentations were actually driven by underlying neuroinflammatory and immune-mediated conditions. We dive into how infections like strep, tick-borne illnesses, and other immune triggers can lead to sudden, dramatic behavioral and psychiatric changes in children.We explore Dr. Greenberg’s groundbreaking review of patients previously diagnosed with pediatric bipolar disorder, where the majority were later found to have tick-borne infections such as Lyme, Bartonella, and Babesia. Together, we discuss why standard psychiatric diagnoses often fail to capture root causes, the limits of conventional lab testing, and why psychiatry, immunology, neurology, and infectious disease must be viewed as deeply connected. This conversation challenges siloed thinking in medicine and offers a powerful reframe for parents and clinicians searching for answers beyond symptom management.If you’re interested in learning more about Dr. Greenberg’s work, you can visit her website, https://www.rosaliegreenbergmd.com/, for additional information and resources.Join Dr. Lauren LaRose, psychiatrist and mom of three, as she brings on experts in mental health, physical health and education and explores ideas outside the traditional medical model. The Little Brain Campaign aims to make issues kids and caregivers face easier to understand, while always keeping in mind that we need to look beyond the usual answers to find what really works.Follow The Little Brain CampaignInstagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thelittlebraincampaign/⁠