Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:165-170
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
Viral encephalopathy mimicking functional psychosis
LG Wilson
Encephalitis, particularly herpes simplex encephalitis, frequently presents
as a disorder with puzzling psychiatric symptoms before frank evidence of
central nervous system involvement is apparent. The author describes three
cases of encephalitis characterized by abrupt onset of bizarre
psychological disturbance in the absence of gross neurologic dysfunction.
Each patient was initially diagnosed as schizophrenic but later became
critically ill and recovered only after a long and chaotic hospital course.
The author warns psychiatrists and staff on psychiatric impatient units
against mistakenly diagnosing cases of early encephalitis as functional
psychoses.
