Case Reports in Psychiatry
August 13, 2021
Sulochana Joshi, Anusha Manandhar, Pawan Sharma
10 citations
Meditation can trigger acute and transient psychosis in vulnerable individuals, as illustrated by a 33-year-old male patient who experienced two separate psychotic episodes following meditation. While meditation is generally beneficial for mental health and emotional regulation, negative effects such as meditation-induced psychosis have been documented. This case highlights meditation as a possible precipitating factor for psychosis.
Case Reports in Psychiatry
January 1, 2025
Alok Atreya, Sabbu Maharjan, Samata Nepal et al.
1 citation
A 30-year-old woman in rural Nepal experienced acute episodes of altered consciousness, religious chanting, and deity-associated behavior, likely influenced by local beliefs in divine possession. Similar symptoms occurred in a family member, and she first sought help from traditional healers before psychiatric care. Medical tests were normal. The condition, understood as a possession state involving substitution of personality by a spirit or deity, responded well to combined medication and supportive psychotherapy during a brief hospital stay. The case underscores the need for cultural competence in forensic psychiatric evaluations in Nepal and highlights challenges in applying mental health legislation within traditional cultural settings.
Case Reports in Psychiatry
January 1, 2026
Ridhi J. Vyas, Ryan Hood, Jeremy Hsiang et al.
A 31-year-old woman with chronic PTSD and a history of childhood compulsions developed new-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) after undergoing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy (MDMA-AP) in a clinical trial. Her PTSD had been resistant to multiple medications, and she reported significant improvements in flashbacks and suicidal ideation after the first session. Following a delayed second session, she experienced intrusive guilt, scrupulosity, and compulsive urges to confess, leading to a DSM-5 diagnosis of OCD. OCD symptoms persisted for over a year, with a Y-BOCS score of 17 indicating moderate severity, and improved with escitalopram. This case suggests that MDMA-AP may trigger obsessive-compulsive pathology in individuals with complex trauma and prior obsessive-compulsive tendencies, possibly through serotonergic effects on frontostriatal circuits, and highlights the need for screening and long-term monitoring in such protocols.