Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2022 Dec;1(2):100035.
doi: 10.1016/j.psycr.2022.100035. Epub 2022 Jul 16.

New-onset psychosis following COVID-19 infection in a patient with no psychiatric history: A longitudinal case report

Matthew Runyan  1 , Jay Fawver  2 , Amanda Coupe  3 , Michelle Drouin  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

New-onset psychosis following COVID-19 infection in a patient with no psychiatric history: A longitudinal case report

Matthew Runyan et al. Psychiatry Res Case Rep. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Viral infection, including COVID-19, has been implicated as a potential cause of various neurobehavioral issues. An increasing number of case reports suggest that current or recent COVID-19 infection may cause new onset of psychotic symptoms in some individuals, potentially related to viral inflammation or infection of the nervous system.

Case presentation: A 26-year-old woman with no psychiatric history presented with severe psychotic symptoms days after recovery from a mild COVID-19 infection. No other etiologies for psychosis were identified via diagnostic testing, review of medical history, or interviews with family. Her symptoms persisted for approximately two months, requiring three inpatient admissions, various medication trials, and ongoing outpatient follow-up. With continued use of quetiapine and lithium, she returned to living independently and working full-time, and discontinued all medication approximately nine months after symptom onset.

Conclusion: The psychiatric and cognitive effects of COVID-19 infection are not yet fully understood. Given the widespread and ongoing nature of this pandemic, this remains an important focus of further investigation, especially within the context of potential long-term complications.

Keywords: Acute psychosis; Lithium; Outcome metrics; SARS-CoV-2; Treatment-refractory psychosis; Viral inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Al-Busaidi S., Al Huseini S., Al-Shehhi R., Zishan A.A., Moghadas M., Al-Adawi S. COVID-19 induced new-onset psychosis: a case report from Oman. Oman Med. J. 2021;36(5):e303. doi: 10.5001/omj.2022.25. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chacko M., Job A., Caston F., George P., Yacoub A., Cáceda R. COVID-19-induced psychosis and suicidal behavior: case report. SN Compr. Clin. Med. 2020;2:2391–2395. doi: 10.1007/s42399-020-00530-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Correa-Palacio A.F., Hernandez-Huerta D., Gómez-Arnau J., Loeck C., Caballero I. Affective psychosis after COVID-19 infection in a previously healthy patient: a case report. Psychiatry Res. 2020;290 doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113115. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Desforges M., Le Coupanec A., Dubeau P., Bourgouin A., Lajoie L., Dubé M., Talbot P.J. Human coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses: underestimated opportunistic pathogens of the central nervous system? Viruses. 2019;12(1):14. doi: 10.3390/v12010014. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ferrando S.J., Klepacz L., Lynch S., Tavakkoli M., Dornbush R., Baharani R., Smolin Y., Bartell A. COVID-19 psychosis: a potential new neuropsychiatric condition triggered by novel coronavirus infection and the inflammatory response? Psychosomatics. 2020;61(5):551–555. doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2020.05.012. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types