Mental disorders as symptoms of brain tumors (literature review)

Brain tumors can cause a variety of psychiatric symptoms, which can manifest in changes in the affective sphere, behavior, and cognitive abilities. These are called neuropsychiatric symptoms, also known as neurobehavioral symptoms. The most frequent psychiatric manifestations of brain tumors are depressive episodes, anxiety disorders, panic attacks, personality changes, psychotic episodes, memory deficiency, mania, auditory and visual hallucinations, eating disorders. If untreated timely, neuropsychiatric symptoms can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life and survival. In extreme cases, these changes can lead to situations when the patient, due to changes in behavior, may pose a threat to himself and others. However, timely screening for psychiatric disorders in brain tumors allows for timely development of a set of measures to provide patients with palliative care. The purpose of this article is to review the association of psychiatric disorders in patients with brain tumors and to describe the way they can manifest