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Post-Covid Psychosis

A MRI scan of one of the patients, with the arrow pointing to a suspected lesion.
A MRI scan of one of the patients, with the arrow pointing to a suspected lesion. Image: Bartley CM, et al/JAMA Neurology

Even when covid-19 causes seemingly mild illness, some patients can end up with serious and strange complications.

In late October, doctors in California published a case report detailing two teen patients who developed severe psychiatric symptoms, including extreme mood swings, paranoid delusions, and suicidal ideation, following a bout of mild covid-19. In the spinal fluid of both patients, they also found antibodies to the coronavirus as well as autoantibodies to the nervous system. They theorize that the infection triggered a self-destructive immune response that went after the brain, leading to these symptoms. Both patients were treated with immunotherapy, which did seem to help, but one patient continued to have memory problems and trouble concentrating six months later. And the team notes that there have been other similar cases reported in adult covid-19 patients as well.

Research into the chronic symptoms reported by some survivors of covid-19, typically known as long covid, is still ongoing. There are important questions left to be answered, including how often it happens and whether there are multiple ways that the infection can leave a lasting impact.

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