Response to dextromethorphan (15 mg b.i.d.), an antitussive agent not usually considered to have psychotropic properties, was seen in a 25–year-old man with severe developmental disabilities, congenital rubella, and an organic mental disorder. Dextromethorphan affects CNS serotonergic systems, and this was the probable therapeutic mechanism. This and other published cases suggest the existence of a distinct organic mental syndrome in developmentally disabled persons which responds to drugs that increase indoleaminergic activity.

A patient who presented with soreness of her eyes was given a diagnosis of dementia of the frontal type (DFT) complicated by a major depressive illness. The report illustrates the multiplicity of presenting symptoms in patients with dementia. Resistance to treatment is often an indication that a depressive disorder is symptomatic of underlying organic brain disease.

The concurrence of Capgras and koro syndromes in a man with affective disorder is reported.