Organic personality disturbance: a case of apparent atypical cyclic affective disorder

The authors present the case report of a 19-year-old woman that contains several important points in the diagnosis and management of organic personality disturbance associated with temporal lobe epilepsy. The behavioral changes may antedate the onset of the clinical seizure. The diagnosis of complex partial seizures is a clinical diagnosis in which surface EEGs may repeatedly not demonstrate focal activity. Carbamazepine can have important psychotropic effects, in addition to its well-established anticonvulsant effects, and it may be particularly indicated if a lithium-resistant bipolar affective disorder is a differential diagnostic possibility.