Bouffée délirante is "an acute, brief nonorganic psychosis that typically presents with a sudden onset of fully formed, thematically variable delusions and hallucinations against a background of some degree of clouding of consciousness, unstable and fluctuating affect, and spontaneous recovery with some probability of relapse.
"[6] The following criteria have been suggested for a diagnosis of BD: a) abrupt onset, b) polymorphic delusions, emotional changes, mood swings, depersonalization, derealization and/or hallucinations, c) complete remission within weeks or a few months, d) exclusion of organic causation, alcohol or drug use, e) no psychiatric antecedents with the exception of a previous episode of bouffée délirante.
[7] American academic investigators proposed the following definition in 2011: "The French concept of bouffée délirante refers to conditions with a sudden onset marked by prominent delusions with hallucinations, confusion, anxiety and affective symptoms.
The World Health Organization edition of the International Classification of Diseases 10th edition:version 2019 (ICD-10, CIM-10 en français), lists BD as the subentry "Bouffée délirante without symptoms of schizophrenia or unspecified" under diagnosis code F23: Acute and Transient Psychotic Disorders subsection, F23.0: Acute polymorphic psychotic disorder without symptoms of schizophrenia.
Symptoms may include delusions, hallucinations, disorganization of thought processes, perplexity or confusion, and disturbances of affect and mood.
[20] Some authors state that the diagnostic category of BD can be eliminated because it can be fully integrated into the 'Polymorphic subgroup of Acute and Transient Psychotic Disorders' of the ICD-10.
More severe illness may require inpatient hospitalization and pharmacologic treatment with benzodiazepines and/or antipsychotic medication, for example: risperidone, though no clinical trials have examined the efficacy of therapy for BPD.
This is due to the fact that high quality follow-up studies of large cohorts of BD patients are unavailable in part because of the uncommon nature of the illness and non-standardization of diagnostic methods.
As suggested by the various definitions of BD discussed above, rapid recovery and return to pre-morbid level of function is expected, though quantitative data is lacking.