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Confounding Psychosis in the Postpartum Period

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Abstract

This case report alerts the psychiatric clinician to consider nonpsychiatric etiologies of psychosis appearing during the postpartum period besides postpartum psychosis. The case includes a description of the patient’s psychiatric presentation, admission to the inpatient psychiatric unit with subsequent transfer to the medicine department including neuroimaging and neurological consultation. The patient had a remission of psychosis after only two and half days of antipsychotic medication administration. Positive findings on the MRI suggested a demyelinating disease and a 4-month follow up MRI continued to be positive. The etiology was presumed to be a demyelinating disease. In conclusion, psychiatrists need to be alert to include nonpsychiatric pathologies in the differential diagnosis when a patient presents with psychosis in the postpartum period.

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Correspondence to Jack Castro.

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Castro, J., Billick, S., Kleiman, A. et al. Confounding Psychosis in the Postpartum Period. Psychiatr Q 85, 91–96 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-013-9271-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-013-9271-5

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