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Psychotic PTSD? Sudden traumatic loss precipitating very late onset schizophrenia

McIntosh, I; Story, GW; (2021) Psychotic PTSD? Sudden traumatic loss precipitating very late onset schizophrenia. BMJ Case Reports , 14 (1) , Article e235384. 10.1136/bcr-2020-235384. Green open access

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Abstract

Early theories of schizophrenia considered the illness as a fragmentation of mental content in response to psychological trauma. Here we present a case of very late onset schizophrenia in a previously high-functioning man in his mid-60s, precipitated by having lost his family in a terrorist attack, while he was living in Africa. He presented with symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder, however also exhibited visual and auditory hallucinations and marked deterioration in daily functioning. He showed mild impairment on cognitive testing, however brain imaging and screening for reversible causes of cognitive impairment were normal. The case highlights the need for a formulation-based approach to understanding and managing responses to severe trauma, from resolution through to psychotic disintegration.

Type: Article
Title: Psychotic PTSD? Sudden traumatic loss precipitating very late onset schizophrenia
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2020-235384
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2020-235384
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Division of Psychiatry
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10123128
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