We present a rare case of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis in a 41-year-old Caucasian woman, who initially presented with prominent neuropsychiatric symptoms on the background of pre-existing multiple sclerosis. Here, the authors navigate the muddy water between neurology and psychiatry, describing the caveats of antibody testing with a misdiagnosed case of acute and transient psychotic episode. NMDAR encephalitis in MS is a rare condition, which can be easily confused with a new onset psychotic episode. This case report can be helpful in recognition and diagnosis of this rare condition. Making the right diagnosis is important since it can prevent an unnecessary radical treatment and long-term neuropsychiatric complications.

No psychotropic drug is specifically licensed for the management of emotionally unstable borderline personality disorder. Prescribing ‘off‐label’ places additional responsibilities on the prescriber and may increase liability if there are adverse effects. This case report describes a patient with borderline personality disorder who was started on zuclopenthixol decanoate with successful outcome in terms of reducing self‐harming behaviour and impulsivity.

A 49-year-old healthy white British female, not previously known to psychiatric services, presented with an acute onset of florid psychotic symptoms. Her symptoms included visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations as well as persecutory delusions. She was started on antipsychotic medication; however, her psychotic symptoms did not improve significantly in the first 3 months. Her blood tests were normal. Lumbar puncture was performed which was positive for protein 14-3-3. A computed tomography scan of the brain showed generalised atrophic changes. The history of early visual hallucinations, rapid cognitive decline and positive 14-3-3 result was in keeping with the Heidenhain variant of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Despite a short life expectancy as reported in literature, our patient, who was diagnosed with sCJD more than two-and-a-half years ago, is still alive. We therefore believe this is an important finding to report.

A 19-year-old white British man, not previously known to psychiatric services, presented with acute onset of florid psychotic symptoms. His symptoms included auditory hallucinations, misidentification of family members, thought interference and delusions of control. His level of distress was high and did not respond to verbal or medical de-escalation; therefore, he required nursing in seclusion. It was noted that he recently had an increase of his anti-epileptic medication to 100 mg topiramate twice per day. Topiramate was thought to be the cause of his psychosis and, consequently, was changed to phenytoin. Since discontinuation of the topiramate, his psychotic symptoms settled within 4 days and he was discharged shortly afterwards. He was monitored by the Early Intervention services. At 15-months post-discharge, there was no recurrence of any symptoms despite not receiving antipsychotic medication. To our knowledge, this is the first report that describes the progress of a patient past the initial psychotic episode. Therefore, we believe this is an important finding to report.

Emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) has become a public health challenge due to its prevalence, cost to health care services and comorbidities. Prescribers are faced with a clinical conundrum when offering medication to patients with EUPD due to the risk of deliberate overdose. Here, the authors analyse clinicians’ views and experiences pertaining to prescribing medications for EUPD within the context of the NICE guidelines, with resulting messages to enable positive change in future clinical guidelines and policies.