Some psychosis cases an 'immune disorder' - BBC News
bbc.co.uk/news/health-38220610
"Depression: A revolution in treatment
"Sarah was rapidly sectioned by doctors, given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and treated with anti-psychotic medication.
However, a chance blood test turned up something unusual in her immune system.
Antibodies should protect the body, but instead Sarah's were attacking the surface of her brain's cells and disrupting their function.
That transformed Sarah's treatment, and she was given drugs to suppress her immune system. She even had troublesome antibodies filtered out of her blood."
"The strongest evidence was for antibodies that attack the NMDA receptor which helps brain cells communicate with each other. These were the antibodies found in Sarah and turned up in 3% of people tested.
Prof Lennox told the BBC: "The implications of this are that there are patients in mental health services now who will have these antibodies and could potentially be treated in a very different way.
"I think this is a really exciting advance for psychiatry as a whole, and every psychiatrist and patient with psychosis needs to be aware of this and to look for it and treat it assertively when we find it."