[Can men be included in the population subjected to puerperal psychosis? A case report].
BACKGROUND
Puerperal psychosis (PP) is a psychiatric disorder that occurs in 1 out of 1000 pregnancies. Well known since antiquity, its symptoms have often been described in mothers, but few studies have successfully investigated a related disorder in fathers. The characteristic of this pathology is more related to its appearance than to its semiological description which is why its nosographic place is always discussed. The objective here is to focus on the definition of PP and to suggest an entity for both genders.


METHODS
Our case report focused on the clinical description of an eighteen-year-old man suffering from an acute psychosis episode that occurred around the birth of his first child. Delusion followed a sudden decline in mood that lasted for a short period of time during the course of the third trimester of his wife's pregnancy. The delirium was rich with auditory and cenesthesic hallucinations, pregnancy and birth denial, feeling movements and hearing voices in his stomach. The symptoms disappeared after one month of treatment via an antipsychotic drug, risperidone.


CONCLUSIONS
We can confirm that the symptomatic description of the disorder in this patient fits the classical descriptions of PP. Two elements make the PP different from other acute psychoses: the context of pregnancy and delirium focused on the child which can lead to a child murder. The absence of a framework precisely defining the PP does not improve its prevention and can lead to legal attitudes rather than medical care. Men suffering from acute psychosis in a context of pregnancy are submitted to the same risks as women. It is necessary to emphasize descriptions of PP in men to redefine the disease and consider that this entity involves both men and women.
Service de psychiatrie, centre Esquirol, CHU de Caen, 14000 Caen, France. Electronic address: marine.colombel@neuf.fr.
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Colombel
Service de psychiatrie, centre Esquirol, CHU de Caen, 14000 Caen, France.
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Rebillard
Service de psychiatrie, centre Esquirol, CHU de Caen, 14000 Caen, France; UFR de médecine, université de Caen, 14000 Caen, France; CNRS UMR 6301, ISTCT, ISTS, centre Cycéron, 14000 Caen, France.
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Nathou
Service de psychiatrie, centre Esquirol, CHU de Caen, 14000 Caen, France; UFR de médecine, université de Caen, 14000 Caen, France; CNRS UMR 6301, ISTCT, ISTS, centre Cycéron, 14000 Caen, France.
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Dollfus
D000293:Adolescent; D000341:Affective Disorders, Psychotic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003702:Delusions / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D018967:Risperidone / Q000627:therapeutic use
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D018967:Risperidone
Antipsychotic agent; Father; Male; Post-partum; Post-partum period; Psychose puerpérale; Psychotic disorder; Père; Périnatalité; Rispéridone