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Capgras Syndrome – An Unusual Case and Discussion of Psychodynamic Factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Richard O'Reilly*
Affiliation:
University of Western Ontario (now at Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital)
Ladi Malhotra
Affiliation:
St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital, St Thomas, Ontario
*
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X0, Canada

Abstract

A case of Capgras syndrome associated with extreme violent behaviour is described. The patient's psychodynamics support the belief that the Capgras delusion initially arises from an altered affective response towards one or more others and proceeds to intolerable ambivalent feelings. This ambivalence is neutralised through the imagined existence of doubles.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987 

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References

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