A teenage boy is once again happy and healthy after an 18-month long battle to discover what was wrong with him. A report published in the Journal of Central Nervous System Disease on Monday detailed the boy’s journey. Starting in October 2015 and extending for the span of a year and a half, the teen was hospitalized four times. Doctors tested him for a sudden onset of psychotic symptoms including hallucinations and delusions, as well as suicidal and homicidal ideation.The report says that prior to his first hospitalization, the boy had an active social and academic life.As time went on, his symptoms began to get more and more severe. His mother even quit her job to supervise him full time. Two different psychiatrists diagnosed the boy as schizophrenic and he was prescribed psychiatric medications.In summer 2016, the boy was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 11 weeks. When he returned home, his parents discovered cutaneous “stretch marks” on his body. Testing would later reveal he had been suffering from a form of cat-scratch disease, possibly caused by one of the family cats.Cat-scratch disease can be spread by a cat’s saliva and can affect humans who are scratched or bitten by cats. Thankfully, the journal reports the teenager has since made a full recovery and his life has returned to normal.

A teenage boy is once again happy and healthy after an 18-month long battle to discover what was wrong with him.

A report published in the Journal of Central Nervous System Disease on Monday detailed the boy’s journey. Starting in October 2015 and extending for the span of a year and a half, the teen was hospitalized four times. Doctors tested him for a sudden onset of psychotic symptoms including hallucinations and delusions, as well as suicidal and homicidal ideation.


The report says that prior to his first hospitalization, the boy had an active social and academic life.

As time went on, his symptoms began to get more and more severe. His mother even quit her job to supervise him full time. Two different psychiatrists diagnosed the boy as schizophrenic and he was prescribed psychiatric medications.

In summer 2016, the boy was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for 11 weeks. When he returned home, his parents discovered cutaneous “stretch marks” on his body. Testing would later reveal he had been suffering from a form of cat-scratch disease, possibly caused by one of the family cats.

Cat-scratch disease can be spread by a cat’s saliva and can affect humans who are scratched or bitten by cats.

Thankfully, the journal reports the teenager has since made a full recovery and his life has returned to normal.