Abstract
A Patient with Delusional Misidentification: Declaring Generalized Amnesia
Author(s): Igor J. Pietkiewicz*, Radosław Tomalski and Anna Nowak-BańburaBackground: Delusional misidentification is a psychotic symptom relating to misidentifying one’s own or someone else’s identity, objects, places, or events. Although rare cases of dissociative amnesia comorbid with psychotic episodes are discussed in literature, there are no such reports referring to the delusional misidentification syndrome.
Methods: This study describes a 42-year-old Polish female with a history of three hospitalizations for schizophrenia, during which she had problems with memory and was confused about her identity. She was subjected to clinical assessment using the Trauma and Dissociation Symptom Interview, and a mental state examination was performed by a psychiatrist.
Results: The participant reported generalized amnesia for identity and life history accompanied by the Capgras syndrome and reverse intermetamorphosis-like symptoms. She avoided discussing these symptoms, focusing instead on her somatic problems.
Discussion: This case illustrates an interaction between dissociative symptoms of amnesia, depersonalization/derealization, and psychotic symptoms in the formation of a delusional misidentification syndrome. It is important to explore in depth the dissociative symptomatology in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders.