In:
History of Psychiatry, SAGE Publications, Vol. 20, No. 1 ( 2009-03), p. 47-60
Abstract:
Folie à plusieurs is a syndrome in which two or more individuals share symptoms (e.g., delusions). This paper uses archival material to present and discuss forensic psychiatric cases of folie à plusieurs from nineteenth-century Ireland. The cases of three brothers who all `became insane at the same time' and killed another brother illustrate: the role of organic factors in folie à plusieurs; the use of `moral management' strategies; and the problem of tuberculosis in asylums. The case of one woman whose family `all became insane at once' and killed one of her sons illustrates: the importance of identifying the `primary' patient; the difficulties experienced by `secondary' cases; and the limited therapeutic progress achieved in nineteenth-century asylums. While further historical study is required to explain the emergence of the concept of folie à plusieurs in the late nineteenth century, it is clear that, over one hundred years since the term came to prominence, `communicated insanity' still presents substantive diagnostic, clinical and ethical challenges to mental health and judicial services.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0957-154X
,
1740-2360
DOI:
10.1177/0957154X08094236
Language:
English
Publisher:
SAGE Publications
Publication Date:
2009
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2119431-2
