Abstract

Les syndromes délirants d’identification (SDI) sont caractérisés par la présence d’idées délirantes fondées sur une erreur d’identification de personnes, de lieux ou d’objets, amenant le patient à croire en l’existence de doubles. Plusieurs cas de patients présentant un syndrome délirant d’identification et ayant commis un geste de violence ont été décrits, ce qui suggère un lien entre syndrome délirant d’identification et comportement violent.Nous avons effectué une revue systématique de littérature à partir des mots clés « misidentification » et « violence » dans la base de données électronique PubMed et analysé les données issues des descriptions de cas cliniques portant sur des gestes violents commis par des patients présentant des syndromes délirants d’identification. Nous avons examiné les données issues de 15 descriptions de cas.Les gestes violents décrits dans notre revue sont principalement rattachés à un syndrome de Capgras s’inscrivant dans le cadre d’un trouble schizophrénique. Ils sont souvent graves (avec plusieurs cas d’homicides), non planifiés, commis sur la famille ou l’entourage proche du patient et associés à des idées délirantes évoluant généralement depuis plusieurs années.Ce travail a permis de mettre en évidence des caractéristiques communes aux gestes de violence survenant dans le cadre des syndromes délirants d’identification. La littérature sur le sujet reste néanmoins très limitée, les syndromes délirants d’identification étant fréquemment considérés comme des phénomènes anecdotiques. Les conséquences médico-légales des actes de violence associés aux syndromes délirants d’identification, encouragent à la réalisation de nouvelles études.Delusional misidentification syndromes (DMS) correspond to the delusional belief of misidentification of familiar persons, places or objects and to the conviction that they have been replaced or transformed. Several cases of patients who developed violent behavior while suffering from DMS have been published. This led some authors to consider patients with DMS at risk of violence. However, only a few studies have focused on the potential relationship between violence and DMS. The aim of our study was to explore this relationship with a literature review of published cases of patients having committed violent acts associated to DMS.A systematic literature search was conducted on PubMed up to January 2017 using the following term combination “misidentification” and “violence” Fifteen cases of patients with DMS who had committed violent acts were identified. The data from these descriptions were analyzed and synthetized.Most of the patients were men with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and Capgras syndrome. Acts of violence were severe with a relatively high number of murders or attempted murders. For half of the patients these violent acts were perpetrated with weapons. Victims were regularly the patient's family members and the assaults were usually not planned. Delusional syndromes often progressed for several years. Importantly, substance abuse, which is known to increase the risk of violence in patients with schizophrenia, was only observed in two patients.DMS are associated with several risk factors of violence, such as a diagnosis of schizophrenia, specific delusions including megalomania, persecution, negative affects and identified targets. Despite this risk for severe violence, there are no existing guidelines on how to assess and treat DMS in schizophrenia. Accordingly, we propose (1) the establishment of formal diagnostic criteria, (2) the development of rigorous research on these syndromes and (3) the integration of DMS in assessment of violence risk in schizophrenic patients.

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call