Citalopram treatment of traumatic brain damage in a 6-year-old boy

Traumatic brain damage may cause acute emotional symptoms such as uncontrol led crying, apathy, and sleep problems. Rehabilitation may be less effectiv e in patients afflicted by these symptoms. Citalopram, a selective serotoni n reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), has a documented immediate and dramatic effect on pathological crying in stroke patients. The present case history of a 6 -year-old boy with a traumatic right-sided hemorrhage in the basal ganglia indicates that early SSRI treatment has a dramatic effect on pathological c rying and in addition may have a concomitant beneficial effect on motor par esis, sleep disturbance, and neurobehavioral problems.