Organic affective illness associated with lead intoxication

Psychiatrists treating patients with depression or nonspecific somatic complaints seldom think of lead intoxication as a possible cause. Because occupational exposure to lead is so common, these disturbances may often be associated with lead intoxication. To facilitate earlier clinical recognition and proper treatment among the many individuals at risk, the authors describe four cases of organic affective disturbance associated with lead intoxication, review the neuropsychiatric disturbances that have been reported with chronic exposure to lead, and report the results of their experience evaluating the psychiatric aspects of lead intoxication among individuals exposed in their work.