Episodic disorders of behaviour and affect after acquired brain injury

Psychological disorders that follow traumatic brain injury are possibly more complex and diverse than those associated with other forms of "brain damage". These may include organic aggressive, or organic affective syndromes that are episodic in nature and therefore require a more specific diagnosis, a different classification, and a different approach to treatment. Consequently, it is necessary for clinicians to learn to distinguish between "primary" psychiatric illnesses and those disorders of behavioural control and mood that stem specifically from brain injury. There is relatively little in the clinical literature that explains the relationship between variable states of behaviour, mood or temperament, and clinical disorders that may have long-term implications for patient management. This concept paper therefore addresses abnormalities of mood and behaviour that are episodic in character and are not recognisably included in the DSM and ICD classifications of psychological or psychiatric disorders.