Mental Health

We present the case of a 21-year-old highly-functioning female college student of high socioeconomic background admitted with first break psychosis. Her presentation proved challenging given her unexplained hypertension, the recent history of weight loss, seemingly incidental finding of pineal gland abnormality on brain imaging, and atypical response to a second-generation antipsychotic with hypersexuality. Her clinical picture was further complicated by a history of excessive cannabis use and vaping in the months leading up to her psychosis and COVID-19 infection about a year prior to that. With strong genetic loading for schizophrenia based on family history, the working diagnosis included schizophreniform disorder with good prognostic factors. Her slow response to treatment with ultimate resolution of psychotic symptoms at the end of hospitalization challenges the initial working diagnosis of the schizophreniform disorder and portrays a likelihood of substance-induced psychosis or...

Prescribed medications and recreational substances come with side effects, but what happens when they start to disrupt your perception of reality? Psychosis is a lapse in your brain's ability to distinguish what's real. Sometimes when you take a substance, you know you're going to depart from reality for a brief time. But not all drug-induced psychosis is deliberate or short term, and sometimes substance exposure can contribute to unintended mental health challenges, like schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health disorder that presents psychotic features, including: hallucinations delusions disorganized speech Drug-induced schizophrenia emerges after exposure to a substance. It often begins with drug-induced psychosis. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5thedition (DSM-5), drug-induced schizophrenia may be diagnosed when symptoms of drug-induced psychosis: persist past 1 month of exposure to the substance in question conti...

Postpartum psychosis is a serious mental health illness that can affect someone soon after having a baby. It affects around 1 in 500 mothers after giving birth. Many people who have given birth will experience mild mood changes after having a baby, known as the "baby blues". This is normal and usually only lasts for a few days. But postpartum psychosis is very different from the "baby blues". It's a serious mental illness and should be treated as a medical emergency. It's sometimes called puerperal psychosis or postnatal psychosis. Symptoms of postpartum psychosis Symptoms usually start suddenly within the first 2 weeks after giving birth - often within hours or days of giving birth. More rarely, they can develop several weeks after the baby is born. Symptoms...

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Schizophreniform disorder is a schizophrenia-like illness that lasts 6 months or less. It can cause symptoms of psychosis, such as delusions, hallucinations, and chaotic behavior. Schizophreniform disorder is similar to brief psychotic disorder. However, whereas a person with brief psychotic disorder may have symptoms for a few days or weeks, the symptoms of schizophreniform disorder are ongoing. The condition usually lasts 1–6 months. Technically, schizophreniform disorder is a placeholder diagnosis for schizophrenia. A doctor will rule out schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, and other mental health conditions before diagnosing schizophreniform disorder. If the symptoms do not resolve, they will diagnose schizophrenia. Keep reading to learn about what schizophreniform disorder is, its symptoms and causes, how it is different than schizophrenia, and more. Schizophreniform disorder is a condition that causes schizophrenia symptoms lasting 1–6 months. Schizophrenia is a long-term...