With a disease called "Capgras syndrome", a person thinks that he has a double or that he is surrounded not by people close to him, but by doubles.
This strange mental illness was first described in 1923 by psychiatrists Jean Capgras and Jean Reboul-Racheau. They diagnosed this phenomenon in a 53-year-old woman who claimed that her husband, children, neighbors, and acquaintances had been replaced with their counterparts for some time.
Among those suffering from Capgras syndrome, two types of patients stand out: some of them are sure that the double is next to them and they see him, for others he remains invisible.
In addition, some patients with this syndrome assure the doctor that people close to them are hiding under the guise of a stranger; and sometimes, on the contrary, they think they are mistaken for other people. In some cases, the patient is convinced that he has a double.
Victims of Capgras syndrome are few. Usually, this disease manifests itself in people who already suffer from various kinds of mental illness, in particular, schizophrenia. Moreover, Capgras syndrome occurs more often in women than in men.
The first symptoms of the disease are most often observed after the age of 30. However, in psychiatric practice, there are cases when the disease affected even adolescents.
So, the signs of Capgras syndrome suddenly appeared in a 15-year-old girl, when, while in a cafe with her father and brother, she suddenly announced that they were adding drugs to her food. Already in the hospital, she began to think that an impostor was visiting her instead of her mother. At the same time, she mistook the night attendant for her father, believing that he had come to her with only one purpose - we will cause her physical suffering.
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Capgras syndrome is often accompanied by aggressive behavior of the patient. For example, Italian doctors have found that those suffering from this ailment, when it seems to them that something threatens them, instantly fall into a rage. Moreover, scientists have also found that "the consequence of Capgras syndrome can be the abuse of family members and the murder of close relatives."
As for the reasons leading to the development of Capgras syndrome, psychiatrists do not yet have a single point on this score. So, according to one of the hypotheses, the disease can occur due to failures in the area of the visual system of the brain, which is busy with face recognition.
One of the forms of Capgras syndrome, psychiatrists also refer to the phenomenon of incubus - a mental illness, when sick women suddenly begin to claim that they had sexual intercourse with an imaginary lover during sleep.
Some patients with this syndrome are sure that they are infected with small organisms.
The phenomenon of “delusional hermaphroditism”, described by psychiatrists in 1999, should probably be attributed to the extremely rare variants of Capgras syndrome. It manifested itself in one man suffering from schizophrenia, who tried to convince doctors that he was the object of persecution by one literary hero, who reincarnated in the people around him.
Along with this, the patient also claimed that there was an ex-girlfriend inside his body who drinks his juices, eats his food, and talks to him. That is, he believed that although he himself had not changed, nevertheless, there was also a female personality inside his bodily shell.
But those suffering from Cotard's syndrome - another rare mental disorder - are sure that they … have died. Or they demand to be taken of their life.
In milder cases, it seems to them that they lack any important organ - the heart, liver, lungs, or part of the body - a hand, a leg. Sometimes it seems to them that their body has acquired gigantic proportions.
Moreover, some patients are sure that, besides them, there are no other people on Earth at all, and even the world itself does not exist.
It has been established that Cotard's syndrome can appear at any age. However, most often the first symptoms of this disease are noted at the age of 40-50. In addition, women are much more likely to suffer from it than men.
One of the curious features of Cotard's syndrome is its sudden, without any visible mental disorders, manifestation. Although on the eve of the disease, a person becomes unnecessarily restless and anxious.
However, these signs as symptoms preceding Cotard's syndrome are difficult to diagnose, since outwardly they manifest themselves only in excessive irritability, which can sometimes last for years.
As for the causes that provoke Cotard's syndrome, for example, Japanese psychiatrists argue that disorders in the synthesis of beta-endorphins, which are actively involved in the perception of pain, in the regulation of behavior and hormonal secretion, play a significant role in this.
