Folie à Deux – Shared Psychotic Disorder
Folie à deux is a shared psychotic disorder where the delusion is shared between two individuals.
Criteria for a folie à deux as described by Dewhurst and Todd:
- definite evidence that the partners had been in intimate association
- a high degree of commonality in the content of delusion, although the formal psychosis may differ
- unequivocal evidence that the partners share support, and accept each other’s delusions
In the DSM -5 it is included under the section on psychotic disorders and does not exist as a separate entity.
There are four subtypes: (Gralnick, 1942)
- Folie imposée – Delusional belief of a psychotic person is imposed on another person or persons.
- Folie simultanée – The simultaneous development of an identical delusion between two individuals with psychosis who may be closely associated
- Folie communiquée – A normal person suffers from a delusional belief of a psychotic person after resisting it for a long time and then maintains it despite the separation.
- Folie induite – A person who is already psychotic adds new delusions from another closely associated individual with psychosis.
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