A 52-year-old businessman, with no contributory medical or neuropsychiatric comorbidities, was hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia. He received conservative management as per COVID-19 treatment guidelines and was discharged after a week. Within a week of the discharge, he reported being withdrawn, having decreased interaction with family members, remaining mute for hours together, hypersomnolence, and sometimes would not swallow the chewed food. He was brought to the psychiatric outpatient department for evaluation. On Mini Mental State Examination, he scored 24 out of 27. In the Bush Francis Catatonia Rating Scale, the score was 24, with higher scores in the domains of mutism, verbal fluency, and negativism. EEG and MRI brain were normal. In view of catatonia and recent recovery from COVID pneumonia, a benzodiazepine without respiratory suppression effect, tofisopam, was administered at a dose of 100 mg/per day, in divided doses, for two weeks. No respiratory
Background:
Neurological involvement has been found in many autoimmune diseases, with psychiatric abnormalities such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and cognitive dysfunction.
Patients and Methods:
Here, we describe a series of 5 consecutive cases of autoimmune diseases presenting with psychiatric symptoms as the predominant manifestation.
Result:
Our case series suggests that psychiatric symptoms, mainly depression, can be one of the presenting symptoms of several autoimmune diseases that often cause a significant delay in diagnosis.
Conclusion:
Any patient, particularly females, with a newly detected psychiatric disorder that responds poorly to medical management should be properly examined for underlying primary systemic autoimmune diseases.
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