French term (edited): Bouff�es d�lirantes aigu�s

I suspect the "école française" bit suggests that this is a peculiarly French phenomenon, not the state of mind itself, but French's recognition of it terminologically.

Even the French will admit that they are only people in the world to suffer from "mal de foie", which we more mundanely refer to as overindulgence or overeating, i.e. we do not consider the ill-feeling to be an actual "medical" condition. Then again, neither were today's eating disorders so recognized ...

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Note added at 2 hrs 15 mins (2005-03-14 16:37:36 GMT)
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Someone (French) has had a go at translating it before:
[The development and prognosis of acute psychotic disorders (polymorphic delirium flushes)] [Article in French] Ferrey G, Zebdi S. Centre Hospitalier Emile-Roux ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve& db=PubMed&list_uids=10598291&dopt=Abstract

Maybe \"sudden, acute bouts of delirium\".


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Note added at 7 hrs 22 mins (2005-03-14 21:43:54 GMT)
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La bouffée délirante (B.D.) ou la bouffée délirante aiguë (B.D.A.) est une SPECIALITE FRANÇAISE, du moins son entité nosographique.
{nosographie : c\'est la description et la classification des différentes maladies]
C\'est le français Magnan (Valentin) qui le premier en 1866 a décrit ces états.
[http://www.serpsy.org/psy_levons_voile/maladies/bouffee_deli...]

Notons aussi le distinguo que L\'ECOLE FRANÇAISE fait entre les bouffées délirantes aiguës et les délires chroniques systématisés. Pour les AMERICAINS par exemple, la nosographie laisse une grande part à la schizophrénie, aux dépens entre autres de la paranoïa
[http://psychiatriinfirmiere.free.fr/infirmiere/formation/psy...]


Les termes de psychose délirante aiguë, schizophrénie aiguë, expérience délirante primaire, sont parfois utilisés pour qualifier des états correspondant aux bouffées délirantes. Dans la CLASSIFICATION NORD-AMERICAINE DU DSM IV, ces états correspondent au TROUBLE SCHIZOPHRENIFORME, à la PSYCHOSE REACTIONNELLE BREVE, ou à la PSYCHOSE ATYPIQUE
[http://www.kb.u-psud.fr/kb/niveau2/enseignements/niveau3/etu...]

brief reactive psychosis. An acute psychotic disorder with the defining feature that the duration is of no more than 2 weeks. The diagnosis is made when the individual showed normal adaptive functioning prior to onset and when the episode was precipitated by an identifiable and serious psychologically stressful event.
[Penguin DIct. of Psychology (for a change)]

I\'ll leave you to follow this up with further comparative research, but at first sight \"Bouffées délirantes aiguës (form of brief reactive psychosis)\" might well do the trick.