Folie à deux , also known as "delusion for two", induced delusional disorder or shared delusional disorder, is a syndrome characterized by the transfer of psychotic delusions from a sick person, the primary psychotic, to an apparently healthy person, the secondary subject.
This induction of the delusional idea is more frequent in people who maintain a close relationship and it happens more frequently in women and from an older person to a younger one, such as from mother to daughter, for example.
In most cases, only people involved in sharing the delusion suffer from a genuine psychotic disorder, and the delusions in the passive subject usually disappear when people are separated.
Possible causes and symptoms
Generally, this disorder occurs when the inducing subject suffers from a psychotic disorder, and the most frequent psychotic disorder found in the inducing elements was schizophrenia, followed by delusional disorder, bipolar disorder and major depression.
According to some studies, the folie a deux phenomenon is explained by the presence of a set of conditions, such as:
- One of the people, the active element, suffers from a psychotic disorder and exercises a dominant relationship towards a second individual, considered healthy, the passive element; Both people who suffer from the disorder maintain a close and lasting relationship and generally live in a relative isolation from external influences; the passive element is generally younger and female and has a heredity favorable to psychotic development; the symptoms manifested by the passive element are generally less severe than by the active element.
How the treatment is done
The treatment of induced delusional disorder consists primarily of the physical separation of the two elements, which has a minimum duration of 6 months, and which normally leads to the remission of the delusion by the induced element.
In addition, the inducing element must be admitted to the hospital and may require pharmacological treatment with neuroleptic drugs.
In some cases, individual and family psychotherapy may also be recommended.
