This page provides a differential diagnosis of multisystemic conditions involving the above two organ systems that may also be associated with psychosis.

Each condition listed below is linked to a dedicated page within this resource. These pages describe other potential multisystemic manifestations and psychiatric associations of each condition, allowing the information to be explored from both multisystemic and psychiatric perspectives.

Of note, to optimize clinical utility, the list does not include conditions in which psychosis occurs only in the context of delirium. The list includes only conditions in which psychosis may occur in the setting of intact attention and orientation. Presentations in which psychosis occurs exclusively in the context of delirium fall outside the intended scope of this psychiatric differential and are appropriately considered within the broader medical assessment and management of delirium.

Multisystemic conditions with

cardiovascular and musculoskeletal involvement

Page most recently updated 7 September 2026

Image credit: © 2026 Islam Hassan. All rights reserved.

● Intrinsic

Immune-mediated

◦ Autoimmune encephalitides with multisystemic involvement

Anti-CASPR2 encephalitis (muscle cramps and stiffness may occur due to peripheral nerve hyperexcitability)

◦ Connective tissue diseases

Systemic lupus erythematosus

Mixed connective tissue disease

◦ Systemic vasculitides

Giant cell arteritis

Polyarteritis nodosa

Microscopic polyangiitis

◦ Other immune-mediated disorders

Sarcoidosis

Scleromyxedema

Sydenham chorea (post-streptococcal autoimmune disease; acute rheumatic fever spectrum) — predominantly in childhood/adolescence

Endocrine

◦ Hypothyroidism

◦ Hyperthyroidism

◦ Cushing syndrome

◦ Adrenal insufficiency

◦ Hypopituitarism

◦ Hypoparathyroidism

◦ Hyperparathyroidism (and hypercalcemia from non-endocrine causes)

Genetic

◦ Trisomy 8

◦ Turner syndrome

◦ Lujan syndrome (formerly Lujan–Fryns syndrome)

◦ Tuberous sclerosis

 Neuroacanthocytoses (cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmias may occur, particularly in McLeod syndrome)

◦ Neurometabolic disorders

Mucopolysaccharidoses

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy

Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis

Gaucher disease

Mitochondrial disorders (including MELAS, MERRF, Kearns–Sayre syndrome, and POLG-related disorders)

● Extrinsic

Toxic and deficiency states

Thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency

Severe malnutrition/starvation

Lead poisoning

Infectious

◦ Bacterial

Neurosyphilis

Lyme neuroborreliosis

Whipple disease

Selected references and further reading — Multisystemic lens

Cardinal RN, Bullmore ET. The diagnosis of psychosis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2011.

Sachdev PS, Keshavan MS, editors. Secondary schizophrenia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2010.

Levenson JL, editor. The American Psychiatric Association Publishing textbook of psychosomatic medicine and consultation-liaison psychiatry. 3rd ed. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2019.

Stern TA, Beach SR, Smith FA, Freudenreich O, Vranceau AM, Fava M, editors. Massachusetts General Hospital handbook of general hospital psychiatry. 8th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2025.

Arciniegas DB, Yudofsky SC, Hales RE, editors. The American Psychiatric Association Publishing textbook of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences. 6th ed. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2018.

Agrawal N, Faruqui R, Bodani M, editors. Oxford textbook of neuropsychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2020.

Boland R, Verduin M, editors. Kaplan and Sadock's comprehensive textbook of psychiatry. 11th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2024.

Loscalzo J, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, editors. Harrison's principles of internal medicine. 22nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2025.