Polydipsia often goes with hypokalemia). Antipsychotics can have side effects such as dry mouth that may make the patient feel thirsty. Primary polydipsia describes excessive thirst and water intake caused in the absence of physiological stimuli to drink. This includes both psychogenic primary polydipsia and non-psychogenic primary polydipsia, such as in patients with autoimmune chronic hepatitis with severely elevated globulin levels. Psychogenic polydipsia is an excessive water intake seen in some patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, and/or the developmentally disabled. It should be taken very seriously, as the amount of water ingested exceeds the amount that can be excreted
Primary polydipsia Primary polydipsia Primary polydipsia is a form of polydipsia characterised by excessive fluid intake in the absence of physiological stimuli to drink. This includes psychogenic polydipsia (PPD – not to be confused with postpartum depression), which is caused by psychiatric disorders, often schizophrenia, and often accompanied by the sensation of dry mouth. Some forms of primary polydipsia are explicitly non-psychogenic. Primary polydipsia is a diagnosis of exclusion. In diagnosis, primary polydipsia is usually categorised as: The terms primary polydipsia and psychogenic polydipsia are sometimes incorrectly used interchangeably – to be considered psychogenic, the patient needs to have some other psychiatric