Coexistence of the Capgras and de Clérambault Syndromes A Case History
ANDREW SIMS M.A., M.B., B.Chir., M.R.C.Psych.1 and
ALFRED WHITE M.B., B.S.2
1 Consultant Psychiatrist, All Saints' Hospital, Birmingham 18
2 Psychiatric Registrar, All Saints' Hospital, Birmingham 18
A case is described in which a diagnosis of acute paranoid schizophrenia was made using the criteria of Schneiderian first rank symptoms. The patient showed the Capgras syndrome with delusional misidentification of her mother and other people in her environment, and also de Clérambault's syndrome with a delusion that a previous employer was her lover. It is considered that these two syndromes are descriptions of a specific type of delusional content and are not distinct disease entities.
Submitted on February 19, 1973
