Induced or shared psychosis is one of the rare psychiatric disorders in which an inductor, suffering from a psychotic disorder induces a psychotic condition - with similar symptoms - in a person with strong emotional attachment (the recipient).

Diagnosis is based on strict criteria, therefore it is essential to have thorough knowledge of the inductor’s and the recipient’s medical history. In our case, we examined an elderly couple – both 83 years old – with newly formed, thematically identical acoustic hallucinations and delusions.

During patient interviews it turned out that the husband suffers from Parkinson’s disease and the wife was treated in the 1960s with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Though, based on the medical history the diagnosis of shared psychotic disorder became questionable, we thought it is worth to further examine the interaction of the two patients’ psychopathology. 

Considering the significant prevalence of both Parkinson’s (and related disorders) and schizophrenia spectrum disorders we have to expect similar cases in clinical practice, especially in the light of the aging of society. 

Source: Kovács, Kovács, Hamvas, Szabó, Bodó-Varga & Tény (2015) Induced Psychosis or Psychotic Relapse? – An Unexpected Effect of Anti-Parkinson Treatment, 17(2), 443-445.

Top stories: International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience

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