Onset psychosis and PTSS after severe respiratory symptomatology caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case report.

Abstract

Covid-19 is an infective respiratory illness caused by a novel virus, which might present different degrees of severity: from mild or even asymptomatic carriers to severe pneumonia, requiring intubation and intensive care unit (ICU) management. SARS-CoV-2 may cause also central nervous system involvement, including psychiatric manifestations. Some cases of psychosis apparently covid-related have been reported since the start of the pandemic; we will briefly review some of them here, then we will report a case concerning a patient with emerging psychosis during the disease caused by the virus. Our case describes a man with no prior personal or familiar psychiatric history, who developed delusion and a post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) which required hospitalization in a psychiatric unit. The patient was treated with antipsychotic medications and underwent a brief follow-up.