INTRODUCTION: Cotard’s syndrome was described by Jules Cotard in 1880 as “anxious melancholy, suicide behavior, insensitivity to pain and non-existence delusions”. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, distressing neuropsychiatric sequelae have been reported among survivors. Our interest in presenting this case report arises from the limited information available among the literature, and to set a precedent of the first described case in Panama, pretending to provide the data to perform the proper assessment.

CLINICAL CASE:  A 68-year-old female, with a history of schizophrenia and poor adherence to treatment presents with altered sleep patterns, hyporexia, nihilistic and paranoid delusions, and changes in behavior.

DISCUSSION: The incidence of psychoses during respiratory epidemics and pandemics is sixty times greater than the median baseline incidence. It has been described that the psychoses associated with COVID-19 are characterized by their incidence twice as high as those associated with influenza. Based on evaluations of Cotard’s syndrome, appropriate treatment for Cotard’s syndrome is given by searching and treating its etiology. Nevertheless, the prognosis varies widely in terms of resolution of symptoms.

CONCLUSION: Cotard’s syndrome is an enigma for psychiatry, to which COVID-19 is added within its etiology.