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Vol 14, No 1
Table of Contents

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<p class="frontmatter-fieldnotes disclaimernew" style="margin-bottom:15px;">This work may not be copied, distributed, displayed, published, reproduced, transmitted, modified, posted, sold, licensed, or used for commercial purposes. By downloading this file, you are agreeing to the publisher’s <a href="/pages/termsofuse.aspx" target="_blank">Terms & Conditions</a>.</p> <div id="x11l01227">
<div class="story">
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-title"><span class="bold">A “Contemporary” Case of Frégoli Syndrome</span></p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-body-text"><span class="semibold">To the Editor:</span> Frégoli syndrome belongs to the group of delusional misidentification syndromes and was first described in 1927.<span class="htm-cite"><a href="#ref1">1</a></span> The hallmark of Frégoli syndrome is the belief that a familiar person is disguised as a strange person, ie, the familiar person has taken on a different physical appearance but remains the same person psychologically. The syndrome has been associated with organic cerebral dysfunction, in particular of the right hemisphere; however, most cases occur in the setting of schizophrenia.<span class="htm-cite"><a href="#ref2">2</a>,<a href="#ref3">3</a></span> We report the case of a patient with schizophrenia who developed Frégoli syndrome within the context of using social networking Web sites.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-body-text">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-body-text"><span class="semibold-ital">Case report.</span> Mr A, a 21-year-old man, was referred to our psychiatric outpatient service in 2010 with a first episode of schizophrenia (<span class="italic">DSM-IV</span> criteria). He had developed the belief that his daily facial cream strongly attracted female students and claimed that this cream was able to perfect his facial look. He spent an excessive amount of time on Facebook, where he met a young woman with whom he wished to engage in an intimate relationship, but the young woman withdrew. Subsequently, he developed the belief that each time he was contacted by other young women via Facebook, it was in fact the young woman with whom he had been in contact before and who now was disguising herself. He strongly believed that she was applying the same cream as he did himself to transform her facial looks. Thus, he was convinced that, despite her withdrawal, she was actually interested in pursuing a relationship with him. Full neurologic assessments, including cerebral magnetic resonance imaging, revealed no abnormalities.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-body-text">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-body-text">Frégoli syndrome has been associated with some degree of objective face-processing impairment.<span class="htm-cite"><a href="#ref3">3</a>,<a href="#ref4">4</a></span> It is understood as a syndrome of hyperidentification caused by a breakdown of the identification process, thus leading to the inability to attribute uniqueness to a specific person.<span class="htm-cite"><a href="#ref2">2</a></span> As in the present case, hyperidentification may not be limited to one single person only.<span class="htm-cite"><a href="#ref2">2</a></span> This is the first case reporting emergence of Frégoli syndrome in association with using social network Web sites. As these networks generally feature portraits of familiar persons and strangers alike and are massively used today throughout the world to initiate and foster social contacts, the combination with Frégoli syndrome is intriguing. To what extent this shift in social behavior will be paralleled by a shift of context in which this disorder occurs remains an open yet tempting question that may be answered by further reports and case studies of Frégoli syndrome.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-references-head"><span class="smallcaps">References</span></p>
<p class="references-references-text-1-9"><a name="ref1"></a>1. Courbon P, Fail G. Syndrome d’llusion de Frégoli et schizophrenie. <span class="italic">Bull Soc Clin Med Ment</span>. 1927;15:121–124.</p>
<p class="references-references-text-1-9"><a name="ref2"></a>2. Christodoulou GN, Margariti M, Kontaxakis VP, et al. The delusional misidentification syndrome: strange, fascinating, and instructive. <span class="italic">Curr Psych Rep</span>. 2009;11(3):185–189. <span class="pubmed-crossref"><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11920-009-0029-6">doi:10.1007/s11920-009-0029-6</a></span></p>
<p class="references-references-text-1-9"><a name="ref3"></a>3. Walther S, Federspiel A, Horn H, et al. Performance during face processing differentiates schizophrenia patients with delusional misidentifications. <span class="italic">Psychopathology</span>. 2010;43(2):127–136. <span class="pubmed-crossref"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=20110765&dopt=Abstract">PubMed</a> <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000277002">doi:10.1159/000277002</a></span></p>
<p class="references-references-text-1-9"><a name="ref4"></a>4. Ellis HD, Young AW. Accounting for delusional misidentifications. <span class="italic">Br J Psychiatry</span>. 1990;157(2):239–248. <span class="pubmed-crossref"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2224375&dopt=Abstract">PubMed</a> <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.157.2.239">doi:10.1192/bjp.157.2.239</a></span></p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-author"><span class="bold">Tanya Kochuparackal, MD</span></p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-author"><span class="bold">Andor E. Simon, MD</span></p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-author"><a href="mailto:andor.simon@bluewin.ch" target="_blank">andor.simon@bluewin.ch</a></p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-endmatter-fieldnotes"><span class="semibold-ital">Author affiliations:</span> Specialized Early Psychosis Outpatient Service for Adolescents and Young Adults, Psychiatric Outpatient Services, Department of Psychiatry, Bruderholz (Drs Kochuparackal and Simon); and University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern (Dr Simon), Switzerland.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-endmatter-fieldnotes"><span class="semibold-ital">Potential conflicts of interest:</span> None reported.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-endmatter-fieldnotes"><span class="semibold-ital">Funding/support:</span> None reported.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-endmatter-fieldnotes"><span class="semibold-ital">Published online:</span> January 26, 2012.</p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-copyright-doi"><span class="italic">Prim Care Companion CNS Disord 2012;14(1):</span><span class="doi">doi:10.4088/PCC.11l01227</span></p>
<p class="ltrs-br-ltr-br-copyright-doi"><span class="italic">© Copyright 2012 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.</span></p>
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