Capgras Syndrome - The Dangerous Delusion of Doubles – What is it? Short Documentary

The Dangerous Delusion of Doubles – Capgras Syndrome – Mental Disorder Documentary

Capgras syndrome is a delusional disorder characterised by the unshakeable belief that someone close to you has been replaced by an identical double.

Joseph Capgras, a French psychiatrist first described the disorder in 1923, and called it "l'illusion des sosies" or the illusion of doubles.

In the original case description, Madame M believed her husband and children and many other people around her had been abducted and replaced. She believed her son had been taken away when he was with his nurse and replaced by another baby, who died. She also believed her daughter had been abducted and replaced by other young girls, who had little stitch marks on their faces, which she said were there to remove their thoughts.

In many cases, the “original” is idealized, and anger or physical aggression may be directed towards the “double.” Whilst extreme violence is rare, some people with Capgras syndrome have ended up killing the person they believe to be an imposter.

It was previously thought to be quite rare, but in a study of over 500 people who were hospitalized for a first episode of psychosis - 14% reported Capgras symptoms. It also occurs in people with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy-body dementia

References:

Capgras, J. and Reboul-Lachaux, J (1923). L'illusion des sosies dans un delire systematique chronique. Bull. Soc. Clin. Med. Ment., 2, 6-16.

Carabellese, F., Rocca, G., Candelli, C., and Catanesi, R. (2014). Mental illness, violence and delusional misidentifications: The role of Capgras' syndrome in matricide. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 21, 9-13.

Dalgalarrondo, P., Fujisawa, G., and Banzato, C. E. (2002). Capgras syndrome and blindness: against the prosopagnosia hypothesis. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47(4), 387-388.

Darby, R. R., Laganiere, S., Pascual-Leone, A., Prasad, S., and Fox, M. D. (2017). Finding the imposter: brain connectivity of lesions causing delusional misidentifications. Brain, 140(2), 497-507.
Ellis, H. D., Whitley, J., and Luauté, J. P. (1994). Delusional misidentification: The three original papers on the Capgras, Frégoli and intermetamorphosis delusions. History of Psychiatry.

Reid, I., Young, A. W., and Hellawell, D. J. (1993). Voice recognition impairment in a blind Capgras patient. Behavioural Neurology, 6(4), 225-228.

Salvatore, P., Bhuvaneswar, C., Tohen, M., Khalsa, H. M. K., Maggini, C., and Baldessarini, R. J. (2014). Capgras' syndrome in first-episode psychotic disorders. Psychopathology, 47(4), 261-269.

Silva, J. A., Leong, G. B., Weinstock, R., and Boyer, C. L. (1989). Capgras syndrome and dangerousness. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 17(1), 5-14.

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Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.