Historically, psychotic disorder has been associated with viral infection. Herpes simplex infections and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) among other viral infections have been implicated in psychotic disorder. Of note in this case report is psychotic disorder that occurred following reactivation of herpes simplex infection in a background of mannose-binding lecithin (MBL) deficiency, childhood EBV inf...

Trauma, especially early life trauma, is a risk factor for the development of both posttraumatic stress disorder and psychosis. The goal of the present study was to determine specific associations between exposure to childhood abuse, PTSD symptoms, and current psychotic disorder. Subjects were recruited from a public, urban hospital (N=328, >90% African American). Psychotic disorders were measu...

BACKGROUND Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune disease involving antibodies against the NR1 subunits of NMDARs. The disease shows variable clinical presentation, and involves new-onset acute psychotic symptoms, making it difficult to differentiate from major depressive disorder with psychotic symptoms. Potential associations between this autoimmune disorder ...

INTRODUCTION Post-traumatic stress disorder is defined as a mental disorder that arises from the experience of traumatic life events. Research has shown a high incidence of co-morbidity between post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis. CASE PRESENTATION We report the case of a 32-year-old black African woman with a history of both post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis. Two years ag...

This study investigates the rates of primary psychotic disorders (PPD) and substance-induced psychotic disorders (SIPDs) in methamphetamine (MA) users accessing needle and syringe programs (NSPs). The aim was to determine if there are systematic differences in the characteristics of MA users with PPDs and SIPDs compared to those with no psychotic disorder. Participants were 198 MA users reporti...

Several structural brain abnormalities have been associated with aggression in patients with schizophrenia. However, little is known about shared and distinct abnormalities underlying aggression in these subjects and non-psychotic violent individuals. We applied a region-of-interest volumetric analysis of the amygdala, hippocampus, and thalamus bilaterally, as well as whole brain and ventricula...

Obsessive compulsive disorder is still considered primarily an anxiety disorder, though historically there has always been a question of whether obsessive-compulsive symptoms may be more properly considered psychotic in nature, the so-called schizo-obsessive disorder or subtype. A case is presented here of a middle-aged man with debilitating obsessive-compulsive symptoms of sudden onset in his ...

BACKGROUND Schizotypy is a range of perceptual experiences and personality features related to risk and familial predisposition to psychosis. Despite evidence that schizotypy is related to psychosis vulnerability, very little is known about the expression of schizotypal traits in individuals with a psychotic disorder, and their relationship to clinical symptoms, cognition, and psychosocial func...

BACKGROUND It is unclear whether schizophrenia and psychotic bipolar disorder are associated with similar deviations of brain morphometry. AIMS To assess volumetric abnormalities of grey and white matter throughout the entire brain in individuals with schizophrenia or with bipolar disorder compared with the same control group. METHOD Brain scans were obtained by magnetic resonance imaging f...

BACKGROUND Psychotic symptoms may be present in up to 40% of patients with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we hypothesized that severity of psychotic symptoms would also reflect severity of PTSD symptoms in patients with well-defined psychotic features. METHODS Forty-five Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD but without a primary psychotic disorder diagnosis u...