New-Onset Psychosis Associated with COVID-19: A Case Report

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a huge burden across the world. COVID-19 affects not only physical health but also neuropsychiatric health. Reported neuropsychiatric presentations due to COVID-19 include encephalopathy, mood changes, and neuromuscular dysfunction, which may occur during the infection. There have been also reports showing that the COVID-19 could provoke psychosis during the infection. However, there is still no available evidence regarding this event. In this report, three uncommon cases of new-onset psychosis with mild symptoms of COVID-19 admitted to Bali Provincial Mental Hospital in Bangli, Indonesia are described. The patients had presented persecutory delusions and auditory hallucinations. None of the patients had suicidal ideation or behavior. Three of the cases met the criteria for brief psychosis according to Indonesia’s guidelines for mental health disorders and classification. This report showed brief psychosis without suicidal ideation. However, clinicians have to be more alert in treating this condition due to its potential emergency risk shown in previous reports.

Keywords

• keywords: covid-19
• pandemic
• brief reactive
• psychosis