The relationship between psychosis and epilepsy: a case study

This is a case study of a 49 year old spinster, with a history of temporal lobe epilepsy for more than 20 years. She was admitted to a psychiatric ward twice in one month, with two distinct types of psychoses, peri-ictal and inter-ictal psychosis. During peri-ictal psychoses, EEG tracing showed seizure activity, while a relatively normal EEG tracing was present during inter-ictal psychosis. The importance of a good clinical assessment to differentiate these two conditions is discussed.