Had a severe psychiatric response to a steroid shot yrs ago (have had mild ones to cipro as well). is a 4mg,6 day, tapering dose of methylprednisolone be likely to cause the same? or any of the side effects for that matter?

This would be hard: to predict. Likely the dose of steroid was much greater with the steroid injection than 24 mg of oral methylprednisolone. But you have demonstrated a sensitivity for exogenous steroids that most people don't have (most people don't have a "severe psychiatric response" to an injection!). So I would be VERY careful and would avoid all steroids unless required in a life-threatening situation.

Potentially: If you had a severe response previously to steroid, you sure would not want to try them again. There is the risk with repeat exposures to medications that each reaction could be worse than the previous one. Seek other options.