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Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux

BACKGROUND: Shared psychotic disorder is a relatively rare condition first described by Lasegue and Falret in 1877, who named the syndrome “folie à deux” (FAD). This disorder is characterized by the transference of delusional ideas from one individual to another. METHODS: We report the case of a mot...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Schopfer, Q., Eshmawey, M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9085334/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35548660
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8811140
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author Schopfer, Q.
Eshmawey, M.
author_facet Schopfer, Q.
Eshmawey, M.
author_sort Schopfer, Q.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Shared psychotic disorder is a relatively rare condition first described by Lasegue and Falret in 1877, who named the syndrome “folie à deux” (FAD). This disorder is characterized by the transference of delusional ideas from one individual to another. METHODS: We report the case of a mother and daughter who exhibited shared delusions of persecution after living in near-total isolation for 10 years. Both patients were hospitalized in two different wards, and the combination of separation, supportive, and pharmacological therapy resulted in remission for the mother and partial remission for the daughter. RESULTS: Both patients were discharged, and a network was created by the psychiatric hospital which activated social workers for outpatient care. We also planned outpatient psychiatric sessions focused on the patients' specific role in the folie à deux disease, led by two different psychiatrists. CONCLUSION: FAD has a long history but it is still an unconventional psychiatric diagnosis. This case report sheds light on the clinical features and how to set proper treatment strategies. While the phenomenon of FAD in old age may not be as rare as previously thought, the literature remains scarce.
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spelling pubmed-90853342022-05-10 Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux Schopfer, Q. Eshmawey, M. Case Rep Psychiatry Case Report BACKGROUND: Shared psychotic disorder is a relatively rare condition first described by Lasegue and Falret in 1877, who named the syndrome “folie à deux” (FAD). This disorder is characterized by the transference of delusional ideas from one individual to another. METHODS: We report the case of a mother and daughter who exhibited shared delusions of persecution after living in near-total isolation for 10 years. Both patients were hospitalized in two different wards, and the combination of separation, supportive, and pharmacological therapy resulted in remission for the mother and partial remission for the daughter. RESULTS: Both patients were discharged, and a network was created by the psychiatric hospital which activated social workers for outpatient care. We also planned outpatient psychiatric sessions focused on the patients' specific role in the folie à deux disease, led by two different psychiatrists. CONCLUSION: FAD has a long history but it is still an unconventional psychiatric diagnosis. This case report sheds light on the clinical features and how to set proper treatment strategies. While the phenomenon of FAD in old age may not be as rare as previously thought, the literature remains scarce. Hindawi 2022-05-02 /pmc/articles/PMC9085334/ /pubmed/35548660 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8811140 Text en Copyright © 2022 Q. Schopfer and M. Eshmawey. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Schopfer, Q.
Eshmawey, M.
Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux
title Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux
title_full Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux
title_fullStr Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux
title_full_unstemmed Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux
title_short Shared Psychotic Disorder in Old Age: Syndrome of Folie à Deux
title_sort shared psychotic disorder in old age: syndrome of folie à deux
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9085334/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35548660
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/8811140
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