Psychiatric symptoms in glioma patients: from diagnosis to management

Abstract

Florien W Boele,1 Alasdair G Rooney,2 Robin Grant,2 Martin Klein1 1Department of Medical Psychology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; 2Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK Abstract: Patients with primary intrinsic brain tumors can experience neurological, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms that greatly affect daily life. In this review, we focus on changes in personality and behavior, mood issues, hallucinations, and psychosis, because these are either difficult to recognize, to treat, or are understudied in scientific literature. Neurobehavioral symptoms are common, often multiple, and causation can be multifactorial. Although different symptoms sometimes require a different treatment approach, we advise a comprehensive treatment approach, including pharmacological treatment and/or psychotherapy where appropriate. Further research is needed to obtain a better estimate of the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in glioma patients, and the extent to which these affect everyday functioning and family life. Keywords: glioma, psychiatry, personality, mood, hallucinations, psychosis