Somatic findings in patients with psychogenic polydipsia.

An epidemiologic investigation found a 17.5% prevalence of psychogenic polydipsia in 241 hospitalized psychiatric patients. A randomly selected sample of 10 polydipsic patients revealed such associated disorders as sporadic convulsive seizures, comatose states, hydronephrosis, enuresis/urinary incontinence, projectile type vomiting, malnutrition and, in one case, cardiomegaly and edema. Psychogenic polydipsia is a frequently overlooked disorder, and the somatic consequences of the excessive fluid intake are usually ascribed to other causes.