Frontal meningioma presenting as depressive episode: case report and a brief review of literature

Brain tumours have been notorious for impersonating as psychiatric disorders. In some cases, patients may only have psychiatric symptoms, such as mood changes (depression or mania), psychotic symptoms, panic attacks, changes in personality, or memory difficulties. The frontal lobes tumours of the brain are notoriously "silent and present only with atypical psychiatric symptoms. These may be detected in patients at their first presentation to mental health services or sometimes in patients with well-established psychiatric diagnoses. Thus, they often pose a diagnostic problem and may cause delay in actual treatment. We present a case of 27 years old female presenting with depressive symptoms and diagnosed to have frontal lobe Meningioma four years after the onset of symptoms. Our case illustrates the need for prompt and detailed assessment including brain-imaging studies when patient presents with atypical psychiatric symptoms to decrease the suffering of patient and family.