RESUMO
The COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 has had massive mental health consequences worldwide. It has caused generalised fear and anxiety about catching, spreading and suffering from the virus. This article describes a fictionalised patient's presentation of life-threatening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) associated with fears of catching COVID-19. The fears resulted in refusal to eat and drink, with subsequent weight loss that required paediatric admission. The scenario portrays the association between COVID-19 and life-threatening OCD symptoms and goes on to illustrate the patient's good response to standard OCD treatments.
RESUMO
MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or 'Ecstasy' is an illicit drug frequently used by young people at parties and 'raves'. It is readily available in spite of the fact that it is illegal.1 It is perceived by a lot of young people as being 'harmless', but there have been a few high-profile deaths associated with its use.2 Known side effects of MDMA include hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis, coagulopathy and cardiac arrhythmias.3 Rarer side effects include surgical emphysema and pneumomediastinum, which have been better described with cocaine abuse.4-6 We present a case of bilateral pneumothorax, surgical emphysema and pneumomediastinum in a young man after taking ecstasy.
