Folie à deux.
A review of folie à deux or induced psychotic disorder (DSM-III-R) is provided. The author believes it to be a more frequent phenomenon than usually thought, especially when hospitalized patients are evaluated with their families. An argument is made for viewing it as a description of a relationship and possible influence between individuals who may have very different disease processes. This includes, in the secondary partner, a continuum from being very "impressionable" to having an autonomous and independent delusional disorder. A case report and suggestions for treatment are given.
Sacks
M H
MH
Payne Whitney Clinic, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY 10021.
D000328:Adult; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012753:Shared Paranoid Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy