Autoimmune disorders and psychiatry in youth

In the last twenty years, autoimmune disorders have been clearly described in child and adolescents, from systemic erythematous lupus, auto-immune thyroiditis to auto-immune encephalitis, which are more aggressive and severe than in adults. The psychiatric features met in these autoimmune conditions are often at the front. Indeed, psychiatric symptoms are likely to be various, acute, severe, random, and for most of them atypical. Hence, many patients suffering from autoimmune conditions end up being taken care by psychiatrist for acute and severe psychiatric presentation. Among these psychiatric symptoms, catatonia takes a specific and important place. The aim of this article is to present a few examples of autoimmune disorders which can lead to psychiatric presentation. We emphasize on the type of neuropsychiatric symptoms, which are likely to appear in autoimmune conditions, and also on the role of catatonia as a key symptom. Then we underline the therapeutic options and challenge of autoimmune disorders. Our discussion is illustrated with two case reports.