“Psychopharmacoteratophobia is the fear or avoidance of prescribing psychotropic medicine to a pregnant woman on a given indication in anticipation of fetal malformation.” It is rooted in the tragedy associated with thalidomide use and is increasing due to the inability to predict accurately, strict legal provision of consumer protection, ethical and legal issues involved, and pitfalls in the available evidence of teratogenicity. In the Indian setting, the physicians face more challenges as the majority of the patients may ask them to decide, what is the best for their health. Most guidelines emphasize more on what not to do than what to do, and the locus of decision is left to the doctor and the patient. In this review, we have focused on relevant issues related to psychopharmacoteraophobia that may be helpful to understand this phenomenon and help to address the deprivation of a mentally ill woman from the required treatment.

Inadequate glycemic control in patients with diabetes is known to be associated with psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety disorder, and cognitive impairment. However, dissociative syndrome has not been reported so far. Here we are reporting a case of repeated dissociative fugue associated with hyperglycemia, in an elderly with type II diabetes. Possible neurobiological mechanism has been discussed.