Psychiatric comorbidity in patients with developmental disorders and epilepsy: a practical approach to its diagnosis and treatment.

Psychiatric comorbidity in patients with developmental disorders and epilepsy (PDDEs) is relatively frequent. The majority of its pharmacological treatment has consisted of the use of neuroleptic drugs in an attempt to control behavioral disturbances, despite the fact that these symptoms may often mask underlying psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression, which require other types of psychotropic drugs. In this article, we review the pathogenic mechanisms that mediate the clinical manifestations of psychiatric disorders in PDDEs, highlight diagnostic strategies that may help in elucidating the correct psychiatric diagnosis, and review the psychopharmacological treatments available.