Folie à deux 11566 225419200 2008-07-13T16:16:56Z Trouble18 5084300 /* Further reading */ edit: [[el:Επινεμόμενη ψυχωσική διαταραχή]] {{dablink|For the episode of [[The X-files]], see [[Folie a Deux (The X-Files)]]}} {{dablink|For the winery, see [[Folie a deux winery]]}} {{Infobox_Disease | Name = {{PAGENAME}} | Image = | Caption = | DiseasesDB = 34350 | ICD10 = {{ICD10|F|24||f|20}} | ICD9 = {{ICD9|297.3}} | ICDO = | OMIM = | MedlinePlus = | eMedicineSubj = med | eMedicineTopic = 3352 | MeshID = D012753 | }} '''Folie à deux''' (literally, "a madness shared by two") is a rare [[psychiatry|psychiatric]] syndrome in which a symptom of [[psychosis]] (particularly a [[paranoia|paranoid]] or [[delusion]]al belief) is transmitted from one individual to another. The same syndrome shared by more than two people may be called '''folie à trois''', '''folie à quatre''', '''folie à famille''' or even '''folie à plusieurs''' (madness of many). Recent psychiatric classifications refer to the syndrome as '''shared psychotic disorder''' ([[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM-IV]]) (297.3) and '''induced delusional disorder (folie à deux)''' (F.24) in the [[ICD|ICD-10]], although the research literature largely uses the original name. ==Presentation== This case study is taken from Enoch and Ball's 'Uncommon Psychiatric Syndromes' (2001, p181): :Margaret and her husband Michael, both aged 34 years, were discovered to be suffering from ''folie à deux'' when they were both found to be sharing similar persecutory delusions. They believed that certain persons were entering their house, spreading dust and fluff and "wearing down their shoes". Both had, in addition, other symptoms supporting a diagnosis of [[Paranoia|paranoid]] [[psychosis]], which could be made independently in either case. This syndrome is most commonly diagnosed when the two or more individuals concerned live in proximity and may be socially or physically isolated and have little interaction with other people. Various sub-classifications of ''folie à deux'' have been proposed to describe how the delusional belief comes to be held by more than one person. * '''Folie imposée''' is where a dominant person (known as the 'primary', 'inducer' or 'principal') initially forms a delusional belief during a psychotic episode and imposes it on another person or persons (known as the 'secondary', 'acceptor' or 'associate') with the assumption that the secondary person might not have become deluded if left to their own devices. If the parties are admitted to hospital separately then the delusions in the person with the induced beliefs usually resolve without the need of medication. * '''Folie simultanée''' describes the situation where two people, considered to independently suffer from psychosis, influence the content of each other's delusions so they become identical or strikingly similar. Folie à deux and its more populous cousins are in many ways a psychiatric curiosity. The current [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders]] states that a person cannot be diagnosed as being delusional if the belief in question is one "ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's culture or subculture" (see entry for [[delusion]]). It is not clear at what point a belief considered to be delusional escapes from the ''folie à...'' diagnostic category and becomes legitimate because of the number of people holding it. When a large number of people may come to believe obviously false and potentially distressing things based purely on hearsay, these beliefs are not considered to be clinical delusions by the psychiatric profession and are labelled instead as [[mass hysteria]]. Being defined as a rare pathological manifestation, folie à deux is rarely found in general psychology or [[social psychology]] text books, and is relatively unknown outside [[abnormal psychology]], [[psychiatry]] and [[psychopathology]]. ===Related phenomena=== There have been reports that a similar phenomenon to folie à deux had been induced by the military [[incapacitating agent]] [[3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate|BZ]] in the late 60s, and most recently again by anthropologists in the South American rainforest consuming the [[hallucinogen]] [[ayahuasca]] (Metzner, 1999). ==In media== * (1994) [[Heavenly Creatures|Heavenly Creatures]] is a film directed by [[Peter Jackson|Peter Jackson]] and starring [[Kate Winslet|Kate Winslet]] and [[Melanie Lynskey|Melanie Lynskey]]. It was set in [[New Zealand|New Zealand]] and inspired by a true story where two teenage girls develop a relationship so strong and peculiar that they believe the only way to stay together was to kill one of the girls's mother. These girls were thought to have folie à deux. * (1998) ''Folie à deux'' was the title of an episode from season 5 of [[The X-Files]], aired in 1998, where [[Fox Mulder|Agent Mulder]] shares the belief with a telemarketer that an employee of the telemarketing firm is a monster. * (2004) In the [[Six_Feet_Under_(TV_series)|Six Feet Under]] season 4 episode "Parallel Play," George Sibley refers to Ruth Fisher and Arthur Martin's brief and curious romantic interlude as a ''folie à deux''. * (2006) ''Folie à deux'' was referenced and defined in an episode from season 2 of [[Criminal Minds]] entitled [[List of Criminal Minds episodes#Season_2:_2006.E2.80.932007|"The Perfect Storm"]], which aired October 4, 2006 on [[CBS]], in which a pair of serial killers kidnapped, tortured, and murdered several young women; in this episode, the primary, or dominant, perpetrator was a woman. * (2006) In the Sci-Fi thriller podcast novel "7th Son" by [[J.C. Hutchins]], ''folie à deux'' is the name of a club in Los Angeles where the final showdown of the book takes place. * (2006) The film ''[[Bug (2006 film)|Bug]]'' portrays a ''folie à deux'' involving a man and woman who believe they are infested with government-implanted, nano-technological insects. * (2007) [[Folie à Deux (Film)|'Folie à Deux']] is the title of a short film written and directed by [[Devin Anderson]]. The film had its world premiere at the 2008 [[Beloit International Film Festival]]. *(2008) [http://www.myspace.com/folieatroisband Folie à Trois] is the name of an Oak Park, IL rock band ==See also== * [[Delusion]] * [[Delusional disorder]] * [[Psychosis]] ==Further reading== * Halgin, R. & Whitbourne, S. (2002) ''Abnormal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders''. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0072817216 * Enoch, D. & Ball, H. (2001) Folie à deux (et Folie à plusieurs). In Enoch, D. & Ball, H. ''Uncommon psychiatric syndromes (Fourth edition)''. London: Arnold. ISBN 0340763884 * {{cite journal |author=Wehmeier PM, Barth N, Remschmidt H |title=Induced delusional disorder. a review of the concept and an unusual case of folie à famille |journal=Psychopathology |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=37–45 |year=2003 |pmid=12679591 |doi=10.1159/000069657}} * {{cite book |author=Hatfield, Elaine, Caccioppo, John T., & Rapson, Richard L. |title=Emotional contagion (Studies in Emotional and Social Interaction) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |year=1994 |pages= |isbn=0-521-44948-0 |oclc= |doi=}} * {{cite book |author=Metzner, Ralph, editor |title=Ayahuasca: Human Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature |publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press |location=New York, NY |year= |pages= |isbn=1-56025-160-3 |oclc= |doi=}} {{Mental and behavioural disorders}} [[Category:Paranoia]] [[de:Folie à deux]] [[el:Επινεμόμενη ψυχωσική διαταραχή]] [[es:Trastorno psicótico compartido]] [[fr:Folie à deux]] [[nl:Gedeelde psychotische stoornis]] [[pl:Indukowane zaburzenie urojeniowe]] [[sr:Фоли а ду]] [[sv:Folie à deux]]