Towards an understanding of delusions of misidentification: Four case studies

Four detailed cases of delusions of misidentification (DM) are presented: two cases of misidentification of the reflected self one of reverse intermeramorphosis. and one of reduplicative paramnesia. The cases are discussed in the context of three levels of interpretation: neurological, cognitive and phenomenological. The findings are compared to previous work with DM patients, particularly the work of Ellis and Young (1990; Young, 1998) who found that loss of the normal affective response to familiar Faces was a contributing factor in the Capgras delusion. The: four cases presented suggest chat this particular deficit is not a critical factor in the development of other forms of DM.