Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:1423-1426
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Organic affective illness associated with lead intoxication
RS Schottenfeld and MR Cullen
Psychiatrists treating patients with depression or nonspecific somatic
complaints seldom think of lead intoxication as a possible cause. Because
occupational exposure to lead is so common, these disturbances may often be
associated with lead intoxication. To facilitate earlier clinical
recognition and proper treatment among the many individuals at risk, the
authors describe four cases of organic affective disturbance associated
with lead intoxication, review the neuropsychiatric disturbances that have
been reported with chronic exposure to lead, and report the results of
their experience evaluating the psychiatric aspects of lead intoxication
among individuals exposed in their work.
