Cat photo via Flickr user amenohi
While your cat might be trying to cockblock you, or possibly out to kill you, he's probably not to blame for causing any mental health issues, according to a new British study.A few researchers at the University College London wanted to look into some recent findings that claimed to find a link between T. gondii—a common parasite spread by cats—and the development of various psychotic symptoms like OCD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. According to CNN, the British researchers studied nearly 5,000 people who either grew up with cats or were in utero when their mother owned a cat in the 90s, and then developed psychotic symptoms in their teens.The study concluded that owning a cat wasn't solely to blame for the development of these mental health issues, but rather more of a factor of living with too many people in the house or a lower socioeconomic status."The message for cat owners is clear: there is no evidence that cats pose a risk to children's mental health," Francesca Solmi, the lead author of the study, said in a press release. "Previous studies reporting links between cat ownership and psychosis simply failed to adequately control for other possible explanations."While T. gondii can still be dangerous for pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems, the study found no reason to believe healthy people would develop mental illnesses based on the parasite alone. In fact, nearly 60 million Americans are currently living with the parasite, according to the CDC.