Steroids have been used effectively for many years to treat a wide variety of both acute and chronic medical conditions. Despite some well-known side effects, the association of psychiatric disorders with the use of these drugs has not been well established and documented. We describe a case of a 46-year-old man with a recent diagnosis of optic neuritis, who has psychotic symptoms which appear to be induced by steroids. Psychiatric symptoms emerged after the first dose of steroid and diagnosis of steroid-induced psychosis was made. After discontinuation of steroid therapy, psychiatric symptoms did not improve. But after four weeks of risperidone treatment, he recovered completely. This case adds to small but progressive body of evidence supporting the incidence of steroid-induced psychiatric symptoms in patients with optic neuritis. We suggest that the prevalence of this phenomenon might be considerably higher than what has been reported in the current literature.
Key words: Steroid, psychosis, optic neuritis, adverse effects, risperidone
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