ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 205

A New Variant of “Subjective” Delusional Misidentification Associated with Aggression
Leong, GB
Associate professor of clinical psychiatry, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine, Missouri

Arturo Silva, J
Associate professor of psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas

Rhodes, LJ
Assistant professor of psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas

Weinstock, R
Clinical professor of psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine, California

(Received 6 June 1996; accepted 9 September 1996)

Abstract

Delusional misidentification syndromes are psychotic conditions in which the affected individual experiences delusions of radical change concerning the identity of others and/or of the self. These syndromes may lead to aggression, including serious violence toward others. In this article, we describe and analyze in detail an aggressive individual who suffered from a delusion that physical and psychological replicas of himself existed. We specifically analyze the link between the patient's subjective misidentification delusion and his resulting aggression. Both the roles of phenomenology and biology of delusional misidentification are evaluated as potential contributors of aggression.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic psychiatry, delusional misidentification, aggression, violence, psychosis, visual perception, chromosomal abnormalities

Paper ID: JFS14139J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS14139J
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