A 30-year-old man with no significant previous or family psychiatric history became severely anxious about his health after a positive COVID-19 test. Physical symptoms of COVID-19 were mild, with no evidence of hypoxia or pneumonia, throughout his illness. He was admitted to a quarantine facility. He remained highly anxious, and 1 week later, he developed paranoid delusions and auditory hallucinations (his first psychotic episode). He was treated with lorazepam 1 mg four times a day, mirtazapine 30 mg nocte and risperidone 1 mg two times a day. His psychotic symptoms lasted 1 week. He stopped psychiatric medication after 4 weeks and had remained well when reviewed 3 months later. A Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fifth edition diagnosis of brief psychotic disorder with marked stressor (brief reactive psychosis) was made. Anxiety about his health and social isolation appeared the main aetiological factors but an inflammatory component cannot be excluded. The case highlights that first episode psychosis can be associated with mild COVID-19.

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Objective To examine the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of psychiatric patients with recurrent psychiatric readmissions (RPR). Methods A retrospective study was conducted at Hamad General Hospital in Qatar on psychiatric patients with recurrent readmissions from August 2018 to January 2019. Results Of 380 psychiatric patients admitted during the study period, 40 (10.5%) were readmitted within 30 days of discharge. Most of the patients who were readmitted were single, male and unemployed. Psychotic spectrum disorder was the most frequent psychiatric condition and was diagnosed in 18 (45%) patients. A total of 30% of the patients were receiving treatment with anti-psychotics, and a similar number received more than one medication. Most patients showed poor or no compliance. Only 12.5% of patients stayed in the hospital for more than 5 weeks in their last admission during the study period. Conclusions Poor compliance, male sex and single status were the most common demographic and clinical features of patients with RPR. Post-discharge psychiatric care should be tailored to meet the requirements of patients prone to RPR.