New-Onset Psychosis in the Context of COVID-19 Infection: An Illustrative Case and Literature Review

BACKGROUND: Infection with COVID-19 virus can result in a wide array of neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, psychosis, and delirium. Complications can occur even in the absence of a severe respiratory illness. OBJECTIVE: To recognize patterns in the presentation and treatment of patients with psychosis in the context of COVID-19 infection to help inform clinicians who directly care for these patients. METHODS: In this case report and literature review, the authors first present a case of a 70-year-old female who developed new-onset psychosis in the context of mild infection with COVID-19. The authors then review the literature to present case reports that describe patients similar to the female patient presented. RESULTS: The patient presented in the case report showed improved psychotic symptoms after 3 days of receiving a very low dose of risperidone. Of the case reports reviewed, more than half of the patients presented showed improvement of psychotic symptoms on low or very low doses of antipsychotics. CONCLUSIONS: This review shows the necessity of additional research on psychosis due to COVID-19 in order to better understand the course of illnesses and the most effective treatment.