Citation

Valdés-Florido MJ, López-Díaz, Palermo-Zeballos FJ, Martínez-Molina I, Martín-Gil VE, Crespo-Facorro B, Ruiz-Veguilla M. Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental (English Edition) 2020; 13(2): 90-94.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.rpsm.2020.04.009

PMID

32389516

PMCID

PMC10068025

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The world is currently undergoing an extremely stressful scenario due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This unexpected and dramatic situation could increase the incidence of mental health problems, among them, psychotic disorders. The aim of this paper was to describe a case series of brief reactive psychosis due to the psychological distress from the current coronavirus pandemic.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We report on a case series including all the patients with reactive psychoses in the context of the COVID-19 crisis who were admitted to the Virgen del Rocío and Virgen Macarena University Hospitals (Seville, Spain) during the first two weeks of compulsory nationwide quarantine.
RESULTS: In that short period, four patients met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria for a brief reactive psychotic disorder. All of the episodes were directly triggered by stress derived from the COVID-19 pandemic and half of the patients presented severe suicidal behavior at admission.
CONCLUSIONS: We may now be witnessing an increasing number of brief reactive psychotic disorders as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This type of psychosis has a high risk of suicidal behavior and, although short-lived, has a high rate of psychotic recurrence and low diagnostic stability over time. Therefore, we advocate close monitoring in both the acute phase and long-term follow-up of these patients.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Risk Factors; Adult; Female; Male; Middle Aged; Spain; COVID-19; Suicide; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Coronavirus; Psychotic disorders; Suicidio; Stress, Psychological; Psychotic Disorders; Quarantine; SARS-CoV-2; Pandemics; Psychological Distress; Coronavirus Infections; Betacoronavirus; Pneumonia, Viral; Trastornos psicóticos