CASE Disorganized thoughts and grandiose delusions
Mr. J, age 54, presents to the psychiatric emergency department (ED) with agitation and disruptive behavior. He claims that he is “the son of Jesus Christ” and has to travel to the Middle East to be baptized. Mr. J is irritable, shouting, and threatening staff members. He receives olanzapine, 10 mg IM, which helps to alleviate his disruptive behaviors. Laboratory results reveal a blood alcohol level of 231 mg/dL, indicating intoxication, which may be contributing to his disruptive behaviors. Mr. J is monitored and observed overnight.
The next day, he is calm and cooperative, but continues to express the same religious delusions. Mr. J is admitted to the psychiatric inpatient unit for further evaluation.
On the unit, Mr. J is pleasant and cooperative, but tangential in thought process. He reports he was “saved” by God 4 years ago, and that God communicates with him through music. Despite this, he denies having auditory or visual hallucinations.
Approximately 3 months earlier, Mr. J had stopped working and left his home and family in another state to pursue his “mission” of being baptized in the Middle East. Mr. J has been homeless since then. Despite that, he reports that his mood is “great” and denies any recent changes in mood, sleep, appetite, energy level, or psychomotor agitation. Although no formal cognitive testing is performed, Mr. J is alert and oriented to person, place, and time with intact remote and recent memory, no language deficits, and no lapses in concentration or attention throughout interview.
Mr. J says he has been drinking alcohol regularly throughout his adult life, often a few times per week, up to “a case and a half” of beer at times. He claims he’s had multiple periods of sobriety but denies having experienced withdrawal symptoms during those times. Mr. J reports 1 prior psychiatric hospitalization 25 years ago after attempting suicide by overdose following the loss of a loved one. At that time, he was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). During this admission, he denies having any symptoms of PTSD or periods of mania or depression, and he has not undergone psychiatric treatment since he had been diagnosed with PTSD. He denies any family history of psychiatric illness as well as any medical comorbidities or medication use.
The authors’ observations
Mr. J’s presentation had a wide differential diagnosis (Table 1). The initial agitation Mr. J displayed in the psychiatric ED was likely secondary to acute alcohol intoxication, given that he was subsequently pleasant, calm, and cooperative after the alcohol was metabolized. Despite this, Mr. J continued to demonstrate delusions of a religious and somewhat grandiose nature with tangential thought processes, which made substance-induced psychosis less likely to be the sole diagnosis. Although it is possible to develop psychotic symptoms due to severe alcohol withdrawal (alcoholic hallucinosis), Mr. J’s vital signs remained stable, and he demonstrated no other signs or symptoms of withdrawal throughout his hospitalization. His presentation also did not fit that of delirium tremens because he was not confused or disoriented, and did not demonstrate perceptual disturbance.
While delusions were the most prominent feature of Mr. J’s apparent psychosis, the presence of disorganized thought processes and impaired functioning, as evidenced by Mr. J’s unemployment and recent homelessness, were more consistent with a primary psychotic disorder than a delusional disorder.1
Continue to: Mr. J began to exhibit...