A variant of Capgras syndrome with substitution of inanimate objects

Article Abstract:

Capgras syndrome is a rare disorder in which a person has a delusional belief that another person has been replaced by a double. Capgras is usually related to other paranoid phenomena or to an organic disorder. In a very rare variant, the affected person believes that an inanimate object has been replaced by an exact replica. A case report illustrating such a variant is presented. A 57-year-old caucasian woman became severely depressed in 1977 after her husband's death. She responded well to supportive therapy, but had subsequent bouts of depression, which were treated with dothiepen (an antidepressant medication). In 1981, she began complaining that her spectacles had been stolen by someone and replaced with an identical pair that did not belong to her. The glasses in question fit well, and were the right prescription, but she refused to wear them. She was placed on a trial regimen with a neuroleptic (antipsychotic) medication (fluphenazine), and subsequently developed a depressive psychosis. In 1982, the woman was admitted to a psychiatric ward. After fluphenazine was withdrawn and dothiepen was readministered, a good therapeutic response was obtained, and the patient was able to return home. It is suggested that some patients with Capgras syndrome are not psychotic, but may become preoccupied with doubles of inanimate objects connected to them either by a symbolic attachment or because the object is thought to be an extension of the self. In this case, the patient may have had a subconscious desire to avoid the world, which was not such a nice place to see. Since she had a clinical picture of severe depressive illness with no clear signs of schizophrenia or organic psychosis, it is not surprising that antipsychotic medication had no effect, while there was a rapid and complete response to the antidepressant. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Complications and side effects, Depression, Mental, Depression (Mood disorder)

---

Capgras syndrome in a patient with migraine

Article Abstract:

The case of a 35-year-old woman with Capgras syndrome associated with migraine headache is reported. In Capgras syndrome, patients have the delusion that familiar people have been replaced by identical impostors. The syndrome is usually attributed to schizophrenia or affective (mood) psychoses, although recent reports have implicated organic brain disease in some Capgras patients. The patient was brought to a psychiatric clinic by her husband who stated that she had been talking strangely and had an excruciating headache. She had been vomiting, sweating and avoiding light. Her migraine attacks typically lasted for 48 hours and occurred once a month. The patient claimed that her husband was dead and that the man who said he was her husband was an impostor. Other than this delusion, she appeared to be normal; her mood and manner were appropriate, and she did not hallucinate or have any other delusions. Memory and orientation to time and place were intact, and she showed no evidence of thought disorder. Neurologic and psychiatric examinations were negative. She was treated with aspirin and a neuroleptic (antipsychotic medication). The migraine was relieved within one day, but the Capgras delusion did not subside for three weeks. At a six-month follow-up, there were no recurrent symptoms. It is not known whether this case of Capgras delusion was caused by an undetected organic defect which produced the migraine, or whether the simultaneous presentation of migraine with Capgras syndrome was coincidental. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Psychological aspects, Physiological aspects, Migraine

---

Delusional misidentification of familiar inanimate objects: a rare variant of Capgras syndrome

Article Abstract:

In Capgras syndrome, the patient believes that a person, usually a relative or close friend, has been replaced by a double or an imposter. The syndrome is usually a manifestation of schizophrenia or is associated with affective (mood) disorders. A small number of cases involving the delusion that inanimate objects have been replaced by duplicates have also been reported. The case of a 55-year-old married woman with the delusion that several inanimate objects had been replaced with doubles is reported. Several weeks before being admitted to a psychiatric ward, she had become increasingly argumentative and hostile. She believed that her clothing, crockery, washing machine, a picture in her living room, and a road sign outside her home had been replaced by identical duplicates. She had no history of alcohol or drug abuse or psychosis. After being admitted, she was suspicious of staff, patients and relatives, and believed her husband knew about the replacements. She was very angry, but demonstrated no evidence of depression or mania. Cognitive, neurological and physiological examinations were normal. Two weeks after admission, and after being treated with an antipsychotic medication, her symptoms began to subside. Her case is unusual in that the delusional misidentification of inanimate objects was not related to schizophrenia, affective disorder or organic disease. The cause of this episode of Capgras syndrome remains unexplained. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Causes of

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: A case of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome associated with use of an L-tryptophan product. Hypersensitivity pneumonitis and pulmonary vasculitis with eosinophilia in a patient taking an L-tryptophan preparation
• Abstracts: Ovarian pregnancy: a report of twenty cases in one institution. The effect of large uterine fibroids on urinary bladder function and symptoms
• Abstracts: Genetic diagnosis of Lynch syndrome II in an extended colorectal cancer-prone family. A founder mutation of the MSH2 gene and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer in the United States
• Abstracts: Steroid therapy for hydrops associated with antibody-mediated congenital heart block. Fetal urine output does not influence residual amniotic fluid volume after premature rupture of membranes
• Abstracts: A cross-sectional study of the effects of long-term percutaneous hormone replacement therapy on bone density. The relationship between plasma estradiol and the increase in bone density in postmenopausal women after treatment with subcutaneous hormone implants

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.