Psych Vivas · General adult psychiatry — secondary / organic psychosis
Psychotic disorder due to another medical condition — structured clinical viva
Fellowship viva on secondary psychosis: cause groups, red flags, investigation ladder, AE hand-off, cautious antipsychotics, capacity/legal principles.
On this page & tools
Target exams
Interpretation
Reveal interpretation
Frame. This is not routine cannabis-FEP. Subacute psychosis plus speech change and possible faciobrachial dystonic seizure–like events push organic / autoimmune encephalitis to the top while keeping metabolic, infectious, and primary differentials open.[1][4]
Assessment spine. Risk, MSE with examples, attention (delirium screen), full neurologic bedside, collateral, capacity for MRI/LP, local MHA principles if detention needed (no invented section numbers), medication/substance timeline.[5]
Work-up. Tier 1 labs + ECG immediately. Escalate MRI, EEG, LP (after imaging if ICP risk), paired serum–CSF cell-based neuronal antibodies. Do not stop at normal MRI if AE still likely. Pollak autoimmune-psychosis and Graus AE frameworks guide urgency of immunotherapy discussion with neurology — detail of first-line IVIG/steroids/PLEX lives in the AE topic, but you must own recognition and hand-off.[2][3][4]
Symptomatic psychiatry. Low-dose antipsychotic if risk requires (e.g. olanzapine 2.5–5 mg oral) with monitoring; avoid aggressive D2 blockade if catatonia/NMS risk; benzos if catatonic features. Treat medical driver as primary.[5]
Communication. Explain to family: "symptoms may be driven by a treatable brain inflammatory or other medical process; we will investigate urgently; medicine and psychiatry work together."[2]
Key points
[2] [4] [5]References
- [1]Keshavan MS, Kaneko Y Secondary psychoses: an update World Psychiatry, 2013.PMID 23471787
- [2]Pollak TA, Lennox BR, Müller S, et al. Autoimmune psychosis: an international consensus on an approach to the diagnosis and management of psychosis of suspected autoimmune origin Lancet Psychiatry, 2020.PMID 31669058
- [3]Graus F, Titulaer MJ, Balu R, et al. A clinical approach to diagnosis of autoimmune encephalitis Lancet Neurol, 2016.PMID 26906964
- [4]Herken J, Prüss H Red Flags: Clinical Signs for Identifying Autoimmune Encephalitis in Psychiatric Patients Front Psychiatry, 2017.PMID 28261116
- [5]Galletly C, Castle D, Dark F, et al. Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the management of schizophrenia and related disorders Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2016.PMID 27106681