[Multiple sclerosis and bipolar disorder: an overlap between soma and psyche].

Abstract

This clinical vignette describes a 29-year-old woman who had her first neurological manifestations of multiple sclerosis (MS) on the same day as a second lifetime manic episode as part of a bipolar I disorder. The patient was stable for eight years before this episode. An MRI-scan conducted during admission showed multiple demyelinating lesions in the frontal cortex, which might have influenced the development and course of the manic episode. Her manic symptoms went into remission during the same time as her neurological symptoms. This clinical vignette with literature review is an illustration of the interesting, yet still unknown relationship between MS and affective disorders, where one might be influenced by the other but also have a common pathophysiology. This highlights that the dividing line between neurology and psychiatry, whose pathophysiology often takes place in the same organ, is often arbitrary.