Exacerbation of psychosis by misinterpretation of physical symptoms

Abstract

Impaired processing of perceptual information is often a prominent aspect of psychotic disorders. Physical symptoms such as pain or discomfort may be either incorrectly perceived or misinterpreted by psychotic patients. Presented here is a series of cases in which somatic symptoms occurred in psychotic patients and worsened their psychotic states but only later were recognized as physical problems. Psychotic patients may be unable to comprehend or describe their physical symptoms adequately. Physical disorders of psychotic patients may be overlooked if clinicians are not vigilant and thorough in assessing the patients' complaints, especially if such complaints sound delusional or bizarre.