Delusion of pregnancy in a drug-naïve young woman showing hyperprolactinemia and hypothyroidism: a case report

Abstract

The present article reports the case of a delusional pregnancy that developed in a drug-naïve young woman affected by paranoid schizophrenia and Hashimoto-related hyperprolactinemia. The literature in this field has addressed the phenomenon of distorted thoughts of pregnancy being elicited by physical changes due to drug-induced hyperprolactinemia. The present report gives account of a case of delusional pregnancy that developed in a schizophrenic patient with concurrent hyperprolactinemia induced by a primary endocrine disease. In this instance, however, amelioration of delusional beliefs did not ensue from hyperprolactinemia normalization, but was mostly due to cognitive restructuring of distorted thinking (together with the antipsychotic treatment). This finding confirms the importance of considering the key role of the interaction of biological, cognitive and psychological mechanisms in the construction of inaccurate beliefs and feelings about pregnancy.

Keywords: Delusion of pregnancy; Hashimoto disease; Hyperprolactinemia; Schizophrenia.