Rare, but important; if you are labeled psychotic, medicine stops looking........
Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. People with epilepsy have increased vulnerability to psychiatric problems.
However, it is also possible that the drugs used by patients to control their seizures may increase the risk of psychotic symptoms in certain people.
To test this possibility, researchers screened the medical records of 2630 patients with epilepsy and identified 98 (3.7%) with psychotic disorders. Among these, 14 (14.3%) were diagnosed as having a psychotic disorder that had been triggered by their anti-epileptic drugs. Ten of the patients in the anti-epileptic drug-induced psychosis group were female, and ten had a type of epilepsy called temporal lobe epilepsy.
The researchers determined that, among epilepsy patients with psychotic disorders, one in seven could potentially be attributed to anti-epileptic drugs. Women and those with temporal lobe epilepsy seem to be more likely to develop psychological problems in response to anti-epileptic medication.