A Brief Review of Organic Diseases Masquerading as Functional Illness

A wide variety of physical diseases masquerade as psychiatric disorders. Clinicians may be distracted by a patient's chief complaint of anxiety, depression, or personality change and fail to pursue the possibility of organic disease. The author provides a brief review of physical diseases that produce psychiatric symptoms. He stresses the danger of misdiagnosis and urges clinicians to remain alert to etiological clues during examination, especially when treating patients who have a history of depression, neurotic reactions, or psychosis.