Wandering in Brief Psychotic Disorders: A Case Study

Abstract

Wandering is a symptom present in a variety of psychiatric disorders.

A case of a patient manifesting wandering in the scope of a brief psychotic disorder is described in this presentation.

A 28-year-old male patient was transferred in the Acute Ward of the Psychiatric Hospital of Petra Olympus from the emergency ward of the General Hospital of Katerini.

He was exhausted, filthy, and full of scratches, mentioning that while being with his girlfriend in a remote area, they were verbally attacked by strangers. Panicked, he ran away (this being the last thing he could clearly recall). from that point on, he was wandering in the forest disorientated and feeling threatened. He accidentally approached his village and sought for help.

Upon his admission he had a good self, place orientation but he was disorientated in time and couldn't define the time period he had been wandering. (His relatives mentioned that he was missing for three days, confirming the incident he described). He presented persecutory ideas, auditory hallucinations and he was extremely anxious since he strongly believed that his life was in danger.

He was free of psychiatric history, being functional till the day of the incident. His lab results were normal as well as his neurological examination, EEG and brain-CT. the test for substance use was also negative. He received medication with risperidone (3mg/day) and diazepam (15mg/day). Few days upon his admission he was free of symptoms and was dismissed within 10 days with diagnosis: Brief Psychotic Disorder on risperidone (2mg/day).