Capgras syndrome is a fairly rare mental illness. People suffering from this deviation are sure that a particular person from his inner circle has been replaced by a double. Suspicion may fall on the mother, brother, children. In addition, in some cases, the patient convinces people of the existence of his own double, which, according to him, is guilty of performing actions allegedly on his behalf.
The essence of the disease
Mental disorder named after famous French doctor. It was Jean Marie Joseph Capgras who first noticed this deviation in his patients, identified and described it. The psychiatrist observed how a particular individual accuses his comrade of being an impostor. Very often, he registered such cases among notorious workaholics who, due to chronic fatigue and continuous stress, accused their business partners or colleagues of being fake, fake.
Capgras syndrome is otherwise known as delusional identification. ATit is also known in the scientific literature as the negative twin illusion. Experienced experts say: the bizarre behavior of a sick person is sometimes accompanied by the belief that a close relative, such as a spouse, has been stolen by aliens and replaced with an exact copy. Remarks about the fact that a woman still has the same appearance, habits, character, demeanor and speech characteristics do not impress him and do not affect his perception. On the contrary, they can aggravate the symptoms. A person begins to think that he lives in a whole world of doubles, and the doctor is no exception.
Clinical picture
Capgras syndrome is a paranoid obsession. It comes in two types:
- The man is sure that there is a double in front of him. He sees him, speaks to him, argues with his opponent, can touch him, and so on. He shows it to the doctor, that is, the object is visible to everyone without exception.
- The patient does not physically see the twin. But at the same time, he constantly feels his presence nearby. In this case, the double remains invisible not only to him, but also to society.
What is most interesting: the patient's suspicion can fall not only on a specific person, but also on an animal or object. Hallucinations in a person suffering from a personality disorder are not observed. Often a person even realizes that he is sick and his perception of reality is abnormal, false. Doctors have noticed that women are more susceptible to the disease. Sometimes it is accompanied by schizophrenia or injury to the posterior region of the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible forrecognition of faces of people and inanimate objects.
Case studies
As already mentioned, Capgras syndrome manifests itself as accusing people of being doppelgangers, or calling oneself one. Psychiatrists say that spouses are most often under open suspicion. A woman, tired of family life, suffering from a tyrant husband, suffering from postpartum depression, having lost her child as a result of tragic events, refuses to go to bed with an alleged impostor. She locks herself in her room with a key, buys a gun to defend herself. At the same time, she recognizes other family members very well. The reason for this behavior is not only the circumstances described above, but also various traumas and neuroses.
If the patient is sure of the existence of his own double, then he ascribes to him all his bad deeds. Sometimes he even deliberately misbehaves, not remembering it. Very often, the patient accuses his parents of abandoning his twin brother in infancy, sending him for adoption to another country. Now he has grown up and wants to "recruit" the patient, make him responsible for his crimes or other misconduct. By the way, this deviation is accompanied by serious mental illnesses and conditions, so it is often called not a syndrome, but a symptom of a particular ailment.
Symptoms
Capgras syndrome begins to progress after the age of 30. Before that, it may be in a dormant, or latent, state. Although science knows cases when teenagers fell ill oreven children. For example, in psychiatry, a case is described when the first signs of an illness appeared in a 15-year-old girl. She was sitting with her brother and father in a cafe and suddenly announced that drugs were being put into her food. Already in a medical institution, she mistook her mother for an impostor, and called the night orderly her father, who came only to inflict physical and mental suffering on her.
From this we can conclude that absolutely unexpectedly a person has Capgras syndrome. Symptoms, in addition to confusion between people and doubles, also manifest themselves in the form of aggressive behavior. First, a person is angry because they do not believe him. Second, he becomes enraged at the imaginary threat. Being afraid of someone or something, he can also become neurotic, intimidated, cautious, depressed and apathetic. Thirdly, the patient begins to use violence against close relatives. Sometimes it even comes to the murder of all relatives and subsequent suicide.
Reasons for appearance
The clinical picture is described in detail by world-famous psychiatrists. They professionally studied the Capgras syndrome: photos of difficult patients, videos of the most delusional monologues were analyzed in detail by them, the correct conclusions were drawn. Instead, the causes of the onset of the disease are still vague and not fully understood. They say that the main impetus is damage to the back of the right hemisphere of the brain, which controls the recognition and recognition of the faces of people, the appearance of objects. This can lead to stronghead injury or failed surgery.
Another hypothesis states that the appearance of the syndrome has a psychological, not a physical basis. That is, very strong stress experienced by the patient can lead to this. Often the disease begins to progress much later than the tragedy occurred. That is, after an accident, it can take several months, years, even decades before the syndrome begins to develop. Some psychiatrists admit that the tendency to illness lies in the mother's womb. Others argue that it is the result of a difficult childhood or an authoritarian upbringing.
Basic forms of the syndrome
Doctors say that mentally unstable people are especially prone to this disease. In addition, they distinguish several forms of the disease:
- Fregoli syndrome. This is a “mirror” version of the disorder described above, when the patient “recognizes” his relatives in strangers. Capgras and Fregoli syndrome are very similar in their essence and manifestations.
- The incubus phenomenon is a mental deviation when the patient begins to assure that during night dreams he enters into sexual contact with an imaginary lover.
- The phenomenon of delusional hermaphroditism. Described in 1999. It was first discovered in a young man who was trying to convince doctors that he was the object of persecution of a literary character who inhabits the people around him.
Some patients say that another person lives in the middle of them,who talks to them, controls their actions and even drinks all the juices of life. Other patients mention microorganisms they are allegedly infected with.
Can the disease be cured?
It all depends on what led to the development of Capgras syndrome. For example, if it is found in a patient already suffering from schizophrenia, then he can be quickly helped. Properly prescribed medications suppress even a very anxious state, constantly arising fears and suspicions. If the cause of the syndrome is a head injury, then doctors do not prescribe treatment for the syndrome for some time, giving the brain the opportunity to correct its work on its own. In most cases, the gray matter itself suppresses the imaginary images that breed in his imagination.
As for the stresses experienced, in this case it is quite difficult to heal the patient. Having survived a tragic event, he is so isolated in his fictional world that it is not easy to get through to him. Moreover, he himself does not want to be “extracted” from the depths of fantasy. Despite this, the prescribed psychotropic therapy helps to control the condition, making the person safe for society. After all, possessed by constant paranoid fears, he is able to bring great harm not only to his family, but also to many other people. Such patients are potential killers, maniacs and terrorists.
Therapy
Its duration depends on the severity, form of the disease, its neglect. It can be argued that doctors almost always helpthe patient to forget what Capgras syndrome is. Treatment can last for several years, but there are cases when the patient gets rid of the disease in just ten weeks. In any case, the doctor weighs all the features of the disease in a particular person and prescribes individual therapy for him. For example, antiepileptic drugs help to eliminate the delirium.
Treatment can also be aimed at establishing the stamina of the psyche. It must resist the false system of delusions. In these cases, cognitive methods are very effective, which include testing the perception of reality and reframing - procedures aimed at rethinking reality, restructuring thinking in order to eliminate incorrect mental patterns. Antipsychotics and other therapies can also be used with relative success.
