induced psychosis. Symptoms and treatment of induced delusional disorders Induced psychoses clinic medical tactics

Induced delusional disorder is quite rare in life, since one of the indispensable conditions is the sharing of delusions by two or more persons who are closely connected emotionally. Induced psychosis was described in 1877 by the French psychiatrists Ernest Charles Lasegue and Jean-Pierre Falre. It was called by them "folie à deux" - insanity together. This was due to the fact that similar descriptions of delusional experiences are characteristic of two or more people in fairly close contact with each other.

The main symptoms of induced psychosis

The main determining factor indicating a violation may be a delusional state. It is determined first at the inductor. Most often it is delusions of persecution or delusions of grandeur, but there may also be a hypochondriacal brand, which is determined by the recipient, whose behavior also changes. It is described as disturbing. Suspiciousness grows, and a once healthy person begins to sincerely believe in all the crazy ideas of the patient. This behavior is characteristic of paranoid personality disorder. It is not classified as a severe mental illness, but is considered a borderline state between pathology and the norm.

There are several symptoms due to which one can assume the presence of induced psychosis in the recipient and not confuse it with the true delirium of the patient:

• a clear and logical presentation of delusional ideas;
• there is no clouding of consciousness, all arguments are argued;
• a person gives correct answers to all questions of a specialist;
• intelligence is not reduced;
• orientation in space and time.

An induced mental disorder cannot be determined using laboratory or instrumental methods. Conduct a thorough survey of the patient and his close relatives. It is necessary to find confirmation of constant contact and emotional closeness between the inductor and the recipient.

How is induced psychosis treated?

Induced delusional disorder does not require mandatory medical treatment. Sometimes positive results are obtained by the separate residence of the delirium inducer and the recipient. However, people with paranoid disorder find it very difficult to cope with separation and therefore they need psychological support.

A person with induced psychosis must definitely correct his behavior, learn how to communicate with the patient, preventing the perception of his crazy ideas. To do this, he should attend sessions of a psychotherapist.

Medical treatment of induced disorder is rare. Only in cases of severe anxiety or persistent delirium.

Use drugs that have an anti-anxiety effect on the psyche:

• antidepressants;
• small antipsychotics;
• tranquilizers.

Induced psychosis in psychology

Ideas of greatness may be common in the donor. For example, he may represent himself as the savior of mankind, a contactee with extraterrestrial civilizations, or begin to heal other people using inappropriate objects or substances for this purpose. If his actions are in any way connected with reality, there will be recipients with whom the patient's worldview and life experience will coincide. This explains the fact that the occurrence of induced psychosis is very often recorded in one family.

The high suggestibility of recipients is an important factor for transferring the delusional state of the inducer to a healthy person.

Such people are prone to uncritical consideration of the information received, they are very gullible. Especially if the authority of the donor is unshakable for them.

Psychotherapist about induced psychosis - video

Fashion is a type of induced psychosis. As well as ideology. And religion.
Induced psychosis is a medical term that reflects, in essence, the well-known folk wisdom: with whom you behave, you will gain from that, contrary to your personal inclinations.
Induced psychosis (from Latin inducere - to introduce and Greek psyche - soul) is a form of human psychosis: a change in human consciousness.
Initially, involuntary and unimposed imitation in the behavior of subjects, for one reason or another, liked by the imitator. Being nearby. What else can be called "monkey". All learning begins with imitation!
Further, after mastering the "movements" from the object of imitation, the reproduction by the individual of certain behavioral motives and valuable and overvalued ideas that predetermine the behavior of other people with whom this individual closely communicates. These ideas often govern the behavior of such people without being explicitly aware of them. The qualitative, rational or delusional content of these ideas is reinforced by the media and the behavior of the people around them.
Fashion is based on this - the mindless acceptance and repetition of everything in clothes, shoes, demeanor, smells, musical preferences, dance, the way of drawing and acting. People imitate other people... Just like monkeys.
In most cases, there are certain limited deviations from the norm in induced individuals. People without criticism adopt forms of behavior, types of dressing, speaking, beliefs or delusions of both normal and sick people, politicians, ideologists, religious leaders. Often - paranoid, "real violent", querulants ...
The key symptom is the acceptance for oneself of the experiences of another person as absolute truth without any doubt or hesitation. I will act and think like those whom I consider "right." Experiences, whether normal or delusional or tendentious, are themselves accepted and within the realm of the human possibility and are usually not particularly bizarre as in the schizophrenic state. Most people like this behavior and accept it as justified. A striking example of collective induced psychosis is Germany in the 1930s.
Most often, the ideas of persecution, control from the outside, chosenness, belief in a higher origin act as unifying, correlated ideas ...
Usually induced people unite in groups, carrying out appropriate joint activities: restoration of "justice", control over the quality of the environment, nutrition in case of fear of poisoning, strengthening the home and the state in case of delusions of persecution, religious vigils, etc.). On this motivation, various societies, parties, sects, religions, ideologies arise ...
At a break with the source of induction, psychotic manifestations disappear. This takes some time.
The driving force behind induced psychosis is suggestion and the desire to imitate and imitate. I am the same as you... We are the same as you. I am mine...
According to medical practice, in 40% of cases, induced psychosis occurs in parents and children, among brothers and sisters, in old married couples, especially in social isolation. This is where the popular "wisdom" comes from: "Husband and wife are one Satan."
Mass inductions in social groups are also possible. Look at modern Ukraine or ISIS.
The very term induced psychosis (insanity) was proposed by G. Lehmann in 1883. This problem was widely discussed in Russian psychiatric circles at the end of the last century. The works of G. Tarda and N.K. Mikhailovsky ("The Hero and the Crowd", 1896) largely served as an impetus for these discussions.
The problem of induced psychosis was paid attention to by such prominent researchers as V.I. Yakovenko, V.Kh. Kandinsky, A.A. Tokarsky, S.S. Korsakov, V.M. Bekhterev.
This methodology of understanding the current situation in different societies can be applied to peoples and states.

Thinking disorders.

Psychologists well define the forms of thought disorder, the degree of its deviation from the "norm".

It is possible to single out a group of short-term or minor disorders that occur in completely healthy people, and a group of thought disorders that are pronounced and painful.

Speaking of the second, they attract the classification created by B.V. Zeigarnik and used in domestic psychology:

1. Violations of the operational side of thinking:

❖ reduction in the level of generalization;

❖ distortion of the level of generalization.

2. Violation of the personal and motivational component of thinking: ❖ diversity of thinking;

❖ reasoning.

3. Violations of the dynamics of mental activity:

❖ lability of thinking, or "leap of ideas"; inertia of thinking, or "viscosity" of thinking; inconsistency of judgments;

❖ responsiveness.

4. Violations of the regulation of mental activity:

violation of critical thinking;

❖ violation of the regulatory function of thinking;

❖ fragmented thinking.

Let us briefly explain the features of these disorders.

Violations of the operational side of thinking appear as reduction in the level of generalization, when it is difficult to isolate the common features of objects.

Judgments are dominated by direct ideas about objects, between which only specific connections are established. It becomes almost impossible to classify, find the leading property, single out the general, a person does not catch the figurative meaning of proverbs, cannot arrange the pictures in a logical sequence. Similar manifestations are characterized by mental retardation; in dementia (the advancing senile dementia) in a person who was previously mentally full, similar disorders also appear and the level of generalization decreases. But there is a difference: mentally retarded people, albeit very slowly, are able to form new concepts and skills, so they are trainable. Dement patients, although they have remnants of previous generalizations, are not able to learn new material, cannot use their previous experience, they cannot be taught.

Distortion of the generalization process It manifests itself in the fact that in his judgments a person reflects only the random side of phenomena, and the essential relationships between objects are not taken into account. At the same time, such people can be guided by excessively general signs, rely on inadequate relationships between objects. Thus, a patient who is characterized by such disturbances in thinking classifies a mushroom, a horse, a pencil in one group according to the "principle of the connection between the organic and the inorganic." Or he combines "beetle" and "shovel", explaining: "They dig the ground with a shovel, and the beetle also digs in the ground." He can combine "a watch and a bicycle" by thinking: "Both measure: a watch measures time, and a bicycle measures space when it is ridden." Similar thinking disorders are found in patients with schizophrenia, in psychopaths.

Violation of the dynamics of thinking manifests itself in different ways.

lability of thinking or “leap of ideas”, is characteristic of that person who, without having time to finish one thought, moves on to another. Each new impression changes the direction of his thoughts, he talks incessantly, laughs without any connection, he is distinguished by the chaotic nature of associations, a violation of the logical course of thinking.

Inertia, or "viscosity of thinking", - this is such a disorder when people cannot change the way they work, their judgments, they are not able to switch from one type of activity to another. Such disorders are often found in patients with epilepsy and as a long-term consequence of severe brain injuries. In extreme cases, a person cannot cope even with an elementary task if it requires a switch. Therefore, a violation of the dynamics of mental activity leads to a decrease in the level of generalization: a person is not able to classify even at a specific level, since each picture is a single instance for him, and he is not able to switch to another picture, compare them with each other, etc.

Inconsistency of judgments it is noted when the adequate nature of judgments is unstable, that is, the correct ways of performing mental actions alternate with erroneous ones. With fatigue and mood swings, this also occurs in completely healthy people. Similar fluctuations in the correct and erroneous ways of performing the same mental action occur in 80% of people with vascular diseases of the brain, in 68% of patients who have had a brain injury, in 66% of patients with manic psychosis. The fluctuations were not caused by the complexity of the material - they also manifested themselves in the simplest tasks, that is, they testified to the instability of mental activity.

"Responsiveness"- this is the instability of the way of performing actions, which manifests itself in an excessive form, when correct actions alternate with ridiculous ones, but the person does not notice this. Responsiveness is manifested in an unexpected response to various random environmental stimuli that are not addressed to a person. As a result of this, a normal thought process becomes impossible: any stimulus changes the direction of thoughts and actions, a person either reacts correctly, or his behavior is frankly ridiculous, he does not understand where he is, how old he is, etc. The responsiveness of patients is a consequence of a decrease in cortical activity brain. It destroys the purposefulness of mental activity. Such violations occur in patients with severe forms of vascular diseases of the brain, with hypertension.

"Slip" consists in the fact that a person, talking about some object, unexpectedly strays from the correct train of thought after a false, inadequate association, and then again is able to reason correctly, without repeating the mistake made, but without correcting it.

Thinking is connected with the needs, aspirations, goals, feelings of people, therefore, violations of its motivational and personal components are noted.

Diversity of thinking- this is a disorder when judgments about a phenomenon are on different planes. At the same time, they are inconsistent, occur at different levels of generalization, that is, from time to time a person cannot reason correctly, his actions cease to be purposeful, he loses his original goal and cannot complete even a simple task. Such disturbances occur in schizophrenia, when thinking “seems to flow along different channels at the same time”, bypassing the essence of the problem under consideration, having no purpose and switching to an emotional, subjective attitude. It is because of the diversity of thinking and emotional richness that everyday objects begin to act as symbols. For example, a patient suffering from delusions of self-accusation, having received a cookie, comes to the conclusion that today he will be burned in the oven (the cookie for him is a symbol of the oven where he should be burned). Such absurd reasoning is possible because, due to emotional capture and diversity of thinking, a person considers any objects in inadequate, distorted aspects.

reasoning- Long-winded, fruitless arguments that appear as a result of increased affectivity, inadequate attitude, the desire to bring any phenomenon under some kind of concept, and in this case the intellect and cognitive processes of a person are not violated. Reasoning is often characterized as a tendency "to great generalization in relation to a small object of judgments and to the formation of value judgments" (B. V. Zeigarnik).

Violation of the regulatory function of thinking manifests itself quite often even in quite healthy people. With strong emotions, affects, feelings, a person’s judgments become erroneous and inadequately reflect reality, or his thoughts may remain correct, but cease to regulate behavior, inadequate actions, absurd actions occur, sometimes he becomes “insane”. “In order for feelings to prevail over reason, it is necessary that the mind be weak” (P. B. Gannushkin). Under the influence of strong affect, passion, despair, or in a particularly acute situation in healthy people, a state close to "confused" may occur.

Violation of critical thinking. This is the inability to deliberately act, to check and correct one's actions in accordance with objective conditions, ignoring not only partial mistakes, but even the absurdity of one's actions and judgments. Errors can disappear if someone forces this person to check his actions, although he often reacts differently: "And so it will do." The lack of self-control leads to the indicated violations, from which the person himself suffers, i.e., his actions are not regulated by thinking, are not subject to personal goals. Purposefulness is deprived of both action and thinking. Violation of criticality is usually associated with damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. I. P. Pavlov wrote: “The power of the mind is much more measured by a correct assessment of reality than by the mass of school knowledge, which you can collect as much as you like, but this is the mind of a lower order. A much more accurate measure of the mind is the correct attitude to reality, the correct orientation, when a person understands his goals, foresees the result of his activity, controlling himself.

"Disrupted thinking" it happens when a person can say monologues for hours, although other people are nearby. At the same time, there is no connection between the individual elements of statements, there is no meaningful thought, only an unintelligible stream of words. Speech in this case is not an instrument of thought or a means of communication, it does not regulate the behavior of the person himself, but acts as an automatic manifestation of the mechanisms of speech.

At euphoria, enthusiasm(for some people in the initial phase of intoxication) there is an extraordinary acceleration of the thought process, one thought, as it were, “jumps” onto another. Judgments that constantly arise, becoming more and more superficial, fill our consciousness and pour out in whole streams on those around us.

The involuntary, continuous and uncontrolled flow of thoughts is called mentism. Opposite thought disorder - sperrung,t. e. interruption of the thought process. Both of these species occur almost exclusively in schizophrenia.

Unjustified "detailed thinking"- this is the case when it becomes, as it were, viscous, inactive, and the ability to single out the main, essential is usually lost. When talking about something, people suffering from this disorder diligently, endlessly describe all sorts of little things, details that do not have any meaning details.

Emotional, excitable people sometimes try to combine the incomparable: completely different circumstances and phenomena, ideas and positions that contradict each other. They allow the substitution of some concepts for others. This "subjective" thinking is called paralogical.

The habit of formulaic decisions and conclusions can lead to the inability to independently find a way out of unexpected situations and make original decisions, i.e. to what is called in psychology functional rigidity of thinking. This feature is associated with its excessive dependence on accumulated experience, whose limitations and repetition then lead to stereotypes.

A child or an adult dreams, imagining himself a hero, an inventor, a great person, etc. A fictional fantasy world that reflects the deep processes of our psyche becomes the determining factor in thinking for some people. In this case, one can speak of autistic thinking. Autism means such a deep immersion in the world of one's personal experiences that interest in reality disappears, contacts with it are lost and weakened, the desire to communicate with others becomes irrelevant.

The extreme degree of thought disorder - rave, or "intellectual monomania". Thoughts, ideas, reasonings that do not correspond to reality, that clearly contradict it, are considered crazy. So, normally reasoning and thinking people suddenly begin to express ideas that are very strange from the point of view of others, and it is impossible to convince them. Some, not having a medical education, invent a “new” method of treating, for example, cancer, and give all their strength to the struggle for the “implementation” of their brilliant discovery (“nonsense of invention”). Others are developing projects to improve the social structure and are ready to do anything for the sake of fighting for the happiness of mankind (“nonsense of reformism”). Still others are absorbed in everyday problems: they either “establish” the fact of their spouse’s infidelity around the clock, which, however, they are already obviously convinced of (“nonsense of jealousy”), or, confident that everyone is in love with them, importunately pester others with loving explanations ( "erotic nonsense"). The most common is the “nonsense of persecution”: a person is allegedly mistreated in the service, slipped him the most difficult job, mocked, threatened, and started to persecute.

The intellectual quality and degree of "persuasiveness" of crazy ideas depend on the thinking capabilities of the one who is "captured" by them. Finding them is far from easy, and not always possible. Therefore, delusional interpretations and positions can easily "infect" others, and in the hands of fanatical or paranoid individuals turn out to be a formidable social weapon.

Rave(lat. Delirium) - a set of ideas and ideas, conclusions that did not arise from information received from the outside world and is not corrected by the incoming new information (it does not matter whether the delusional conclusion corresponds to reality or not), a component of productive symptoms in schizophrenia and other psychoses.

Within medicine, delirium belongs to the field of psychiatry.

It is fundamentally important that delirium, being a disorder of thinking, that is, of the psyche, at the same time is a symptom of a disease of the human brain. Treatment of delusions, according to the ideas of modern medicine, is possible only with biological methods, that is, mainly with drugs (for example, antipsychotics).

Delusion is distinguished from the Kandinsky-Clerambault syndrome (mental automatism syndrome), in which thinking disorders are combined with pathology of perception and ideomotor.

Often in everyday life, mental disorders (hallucinations, confusion of consciousness), sometimes occurring in somatic patients with elevated body temperature (for example, in infectious diseases), are mistakenly called delirium.

Acute delirium

If the delirium completely takes possession of consciousness, then such a state is called acute delirium. Sometimes the patient is able to adequately analyze the surrounding reality, if this does not concern the subject of delirium. Such nonsense is called encapsulated.

Being a productive psychotic symptomatology, delusions are a symptom of many diseases of the brain, but it is especially characteristic of schizophrenia.

[edit] Interpretive (Primary, Primordial, Verbal)

At interpretive delirium the primary is the defeat of thinking - rational, logical knowledge is affected, the distorted judgment is consistently supported by a number of subjective evidence that has its own system. This type of delusion is persistent and tends to progress and systematization: "proofs" add up to a subjectively coherent system (at the same time, everything that does not fit into this system is simply ignored), more and more parts of the world are drawn into a crazy system.

[edit] Hallucinatory (Secondary, Sensual, Explanations)

hallucinatory delusion resulting from impaired perception. This is delirium figurative, with a predominance of illusions and hallucinations. Ideas with him are fragmentary, inconsistent - primarily a violation of sensory cognition (perception). Violation of thinking comes a second time, there is a delusional interpretation of hallucinations, the absence of conclusions, which are carried out in the form of insights - bright and emotionally rich insights. Another reason for the development of secondary delusions can be affective disorders. The manic state causes delusions of grandeur, and depression is the root cause of ideas of self-abasement. Elimination of secondary delirium can be achieved mainly by treating the underlying disease or symptom complex.

[edit] Delusional syndromes

Currently, in domestic psychiatry, it is customary to distinguish three main delusional syndromes:

• paranoid syndrome
• paranoid syndrome
• paraphrenic syndrome.

Close to delusional syndrome of mental automatism and hallucinatory syndrome, often included in the form of an integral part of delusional syndromes (the so-called hallucinatory-paranoid syndrome).

Delusion, by definition, is a system of false judgments and inferences. Existing criteria for delirium include:

1. occurrence on "painful" soil, that is, delirium - is a manifestation of the disease
2. redundancy in relation to objective reality
3. no correction
4. going beyond the existing socio-cultural characteristics of a given society

[edit] Subject (plot) of nonsense

The plot of delusion, as a rule (in cases of interpretive delusion), is not actually a symptom of the disease and depends on the socio-psychological, as well as cultural and political factors, within which the patient is located. At the same time, several groups of delusional states are distinguished in psychiatry, united by a common plot. These include:

• delusions of persecution (persecutory delusions)
• delusional relationship- it seems to the patient that all the surrounding reality is directly related to him, that the behavior of other people is determined by their special attitude towards him
• delirium of reformism
• delirium of love (Clerambault syndrome)- almost always in female patients: the patient is convinced that a famous person loves him (her), or that everyone who meets him (her) falls in love with him (her)
• religious nonsense
• antagonistic delusion(including Manichaean nonsense)
• delusions of litigation (querulism)- the patient is fighting for the restoration of "trampled justice": complaints, courts, letters to management
• delusions of jealousy- belief in the betrayal of a sexual partner
• delirium of origin- the patient believes that his real parents are high-ranking people, or that he comes from an ancient noble family, another nation, etc.
• delirium of damage- the belief that the patient's property is spoiled or stolen by some people (as a rule, people with whom the patient communicates in everyday life)
• delusions of poisoning- the belief that someone wants to poison the patient
• nihilistic nonsense(characteristic of TIR) - a false feeling that oneself, others or the world around does not exist or the end of the world is coming
• hypochondriacal delusions- persuading the patient that he has some kind of disease (usually serious)
• so-called anorexia nervosa in most cases, it is also a crazy design.
• delusions of staging (intermetamorphoses)- the patient's conviction that everything around is specially arranged, scenes of some kind of performance are played out, or an experiment is being conducted, everything constantly changes its meaning: for example, this is not a hospital, but in fact the prosecutor's office; the doctor is actually an investigator; patients and medical staff - security officers disguised in order to expose the patient.

Induced ("induced") delirium

In psychiatric practice, induced (from lat. inducer- “induce”) delirium, in which delusional experiences are, as it were, borrowed from the patient in close contact with him and the absence of a critical attitude to the disease. There is a kind of “infection” with delusion: the induced begins to express the same delusional ideas and in the same form as the mentally ill inducer (dominant person). Usually induced by delirium are those persons from the environment of the patient who communicate especially closely with him, are connected by family and kinship relations.

Psychotic illness in a dominant person is most often schizophrenic, but not always. The initial delusions in the dominant person and the induced delusions are usually chronic in nature and are by the plot delusions of persecution, grandeur, or religious delusions. Typically, the group involved has close contacts and is isolated from others by language, culture, or geography. The person who is induced into delirium is most often dependent on or subservient to a partner with a true psychosis.

The diagnosis of induced delusional disorder can be made if:

1. one or two people share the same delusion or delusional system and support each other in this belief;
2. they have an unusually close relationship;
3. there is evidence that the delusion was induced in a passive member of a couple or group by contact with an active partner.

Induced hallucinations are rare, but do not exclude the diagnosis of induced delusions.

Induced psychosis A predominantly delusional psychosis, usually chronic and often subtle, that develops as a result of a close or dependent relationship with another person who already suffers from a similar psychosis. The mental illness of the dominant subject is most often paranoid. Painful ideas are induced in the other person and disappear when the couple is separated. The delusions, at least in part, are common to both. Sometimes induced delusions develop in more than one person. Synonyms: ; (Not recommended); .

Brief explanatory psychological and psychiatric dictionary. Ed. igisheva. 2008 .

induced psychosis Etymology.

Comes from lat. inducere - to introduce and Greek. psyche - soul.

form of psychosis.

Initially, the involuntary and imposed reproduction by an individual of those super-valuable ideas that belong to another person with whom this individual closely communicates. The delusional content of these ideas then develops in parallel. In most cases, we are talking about more or less limited deviations from the norm in induced individuals. They adopt without criticism the beliefs of the patient, most often paranoid or querulant. Most often - ideas of persecution, control from the outside, beliefs in a higher origin. Sometimes the induced unite in groups, carrying out appropriate joint activities (nutrition control in case of fear of poisoning, strengthening the home in case of delusions of persecution, religious vigils, etc.). At a break with the source of induction, psychotic manifestations disappear. The reason is suggestion and the desire to imitate.

In 40% of cases, it occurs in parents and children, among brothers and sisters, in old married couples, especially in social isolation. Mass inductions in social groups are also possible. The first detailed report on this subject was made in French literature in 1883 (E.Ch. Laseque) under the title of insanity together. The very term of induced insanity was proposed by G. Lehmann in 1883. This problem was widely discussed in Russian psychiatric circles at the end of the last century. The impetus for these discussions was the articles of G. Tarde and N.K. Mikhailovsky ("Hero and", 1896). This problem was dealt with by V.I. Yakovenko, V.Kh. Kandinsky, A.A. Tokarsky, S.S. Korsakov, V.M. Bekhterev. Literature.

VI Yakovenko, Induced insanity (folie a deux) as one of the types of pathological imitation. St. Petersburg, 1887;

Rokhlin L.L. On the history of relations between domestic psychiatry and social psychology // Psychological journal. 1981, no. 3, p. 150-156

Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .

See what "Induced Psychosis" is in other dictionaries:

Induced Psychosis- (from Latin inducere to enter and Greek psyche soul) a form of psychosis. Initially, the involuntary and imposed reproduction by the individual of those overvalued ideas that own another person, with to ... Psychological Dictionary

Psychosis induced- (lat. inductio - excitation, induction) - a psychotic state caused by the influence of a psychiatric patient (inductor) on a person who does not suffer from a mental disorder, but is characterized by an increased susceptibility to this kind of influence ...

Psychosis symbiotic- (Greek sym - together, at the same time; biosis - life) - the term Ch. Scharfetter 1970) denotes an induced psychosis in which the inducer is a psychiatric patient (often suffering from schizophrenia) and the recipient(s) is a healthy individual ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

psychosis symbiotic- (obsolete; symbiosis) see Psychosis induced ... Big Medical Dictionary

collective psychosis- (syn. mental epidemic) induced P., usually of a hysterical nature, almost simultaneously occurring in many people; observed during the performance of some cult rituals ... Big Medical Dictionary

psychosis induced- (p. inducta; lat. induce to induce; synonym: induced insanity is obsolete., P. symbiotic obsolete.) P., which arose in a person (healthy or sick), who had been in contact with a mentally ill person for a long time, and similar in manifestations to P. this patient... Big Medical Dictionary Wikipedia

Induced insanity- I Induced insanity (Latin inducere to induce; synonym: induced psychosis, induced delirium, insanity together) is a kind of psychogenic illness in which the delusional ideas of a mentally ill person (inductor) ... ... Medical Encyclopedia

Induced delusional disorder and induced psychosis are mental disorders that occur in close relationship with each other.

The main condition for the formation of this species is the presence of a pair where there is a dominant, the founder of the delirium, and a recipient, the follower of false beliefs. When these subjects are separated, the delusions collapse.

primary characteristic

Induced is a complex mental illness, including the presence of delusional thoughts in a person, false beliefs with a dominant basis. The main cause of delirium is life situations that the patient cannot adequately accept. Due to a false interpretation, elementary complexity becomes a huge problem. Individual makes attempts to overcome fictional barriers, at the same time, irreversible destruction occurs in real life.

Most often, delusional disorder is a consequence of schizophrenia or other forms of mental disorders.

Induced psychosis is a mental disorder of an individual caused by delusional thoughts of another person with whom he is closely associated.

The dominant person necessarily has a mental disorder. The recipient copies not only the thoughts, but also the behavior of his leader.

The history of the diagnosis of "folie a deux"

The first data on the induced form of delirium appeared in 1877. This condition was described by the French psychiatrists Jean-Pierre Falret and Ernest Charles Lasegue. Since similar delusions were observed in two people, this case was called “folie a deux” (“common with another person”).

Subsequently, it was found that the condition of patients and the mechanism of development differs from other paranoid disorders, which led to its renaming. Now you can find such references as "double insanity" and "psychosis that arose by association."

In close symbiosis with each other

These disorders are observed only in a couple where the dominant has a delusional disorder, and the recipient has an induced psychosis. They are partially isolated from other people, but are in close relationship with each other.

This relationship is mutually beneficial for both. The initiator, through a passive partner, maintains contact with the outside world. In turn, the recipient feels adoration for his leader, who understands him and shares all the experiences. Excessive adoration of a passive partner can lead to resentment of the dominant. In this case, the recipient is subjected to an experience and may become depressed.

Basically, members of the same family suffer from such disorders, as they have close family ties. Women are most susceptible to the disease.

The main reasons are unconsciously inspired thoughts and the desire to imitate the ideal, which is the dominant personality. Delusional disorder occurs when an inadequate perception of the situations of the surrounding world, a genetic predisposition, an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, or in the presence of other pathologies of brain activity.

When the connection is broken, false beliefs disappear.

How to identify a strange couple?

The inductor's delirium is based on:

• delusions of grandeur, when a person presents himself as a superpersonality, with invaluable talents;
• - a person does not trust others and sees a conspiracy against him in everything;
• when the patient is sure that he has a severe incurable disease, in the absence of such in reality;
• delusions of jealousy, when the patient begins to follow and suspect a partner of treason;
• erotomania, belief in the love of a celebrity.

The recipient notes the acceptance of the dominant's delusion for the truth without objections and hesitation. Most often, ideas of the hypochondriacal type and persecution are also present. Personality disorders may be observed in complete mental health. Delusional thoughts are usually close to the truth and do not carry such absurdity as in schizophrenia.

The most susceptible to the perception of false ideas are persons with pronounced:

How the disorder develops - the nature of the course

At first, the delirium develops in the dominant subject against the background of an organic or chronic syndrome. Later, it is reinforced by the support of the recipient or several passive partners, gradually acquiring a more vivid picture. With the support of other personalities, delusions can change and be improved by the conjectures of other subjects.

There are several clinical subtypes, depending on the number induced:

• there is a couple where one dominant and one passive partner;
• two recipients have one common friend who acts as a dominant;
• a certain number of people have a certain delusional thought inspired by one individual.

Brad can be of a different nature:

How is the diagnosis established?

Identification of induced delirium occurs when certain criteria are met:

• several people share a crazy idea, giving support to each other;
• a close relationship is found between the subjects;
• there is evidence that the spread of delusions occurred from the dominant member to the recipient through communication.

To determine the presence of induced psychosis, the presence of a number of indicators is also necessary:

• delusion develops through communication with a dominant individual;
• ideas of subjects have similar structures;
• the recipient at the time of "infection" with unrealistic thoughts is an adequate person without mental disorders.

If both individuals in a couple have mental disorders, then the diagnosis cannot be true for both subjects.

Therapy Methods

Therapy includes an integrated approach to solving the problem:

• separation of dominant and recipient;
• psychiatric care in the awareness of life aspects, may contain a cognitive-behavioral, family or mixed model of rehabilitation;
• drug treatment to restore the emotional and physical background consists in taking,.

The recipient experiences an emotional decline after weaning from the dominant. He needs the support of loved ones. In the absence of the effect of conservative treatment, the initiator of delirium may require hospitalization until the mental state improves.

Complications and prognosis depend on the severity, form and course of the disease. The help of loved ones can increase the chances of recovery.

The chronic course of the disease is rarely amenable to complete cure, most often there are periodic exacerbations that can be reduced and prevented by taking appropriate drugs. Seizures do not pose significant threats to life. The main problem lies in the inability to adequately stay in society.