Folie à deux dissociative in prepubertal children: report of two cases with EEGs

Abstract

-A case of folie à deux dissociative (dissociative hysteria) disorder in an 8 and 12 year-old sister and brother is presented. Illnesses of this type are very rare and there is little medical literature on this subject. Our patients, almost simultaneously, abruptly had complete loss of memory, disorientation, loss of awareness about who they were, and much anxiety, which lasted about 15 hours. Both patients were physically well and no abnormalities were found on physical examination, routines laboratory tests and EEG studies. Speculations about the emotional and interpersonal causes of this illness in these two patients are given.KEY WORDS: folie à deux, dissociative disorder, hysteria. Folie à deux desordem dissociativa em crianças antes da puberdade: relato de dois casos com EEGsRESUMO -É apresentado um caso da desordem dissociativa folie à deux (histeria dissociativa) em um casal de irmãos, sendo que o menino tem 12 anos e a menina 8. Doenças desse tipo são raras e existem poucas referências sobre o assunto na literatura médica. Os pacientes por nós atendidos, de repente e quase simultaneamente, apresentaram distúrbios acentuados da memória, desorientação, perda de auto-identidade e muita ansiedade; esse estado confusional durou aproximadamente 15 horas. Os dois tinham boa saúde física e não apresentavam anormalidades no exame clínico. Os exames laboratoriais de rotina estavam normais. Foram avaliados por meio de EEGs que estavam dentro dos limites da normalidade. Na discussão, são apresentadas considerações especulativas sobre as causas emocionais e interpessoais que possam ter propiciado o aparecimento dessa desordem nos dois pacientes. PALAVRAS-CHAVES: folie à deux, desordem dissociativa, histeria.Folie à deux dissociative disorders are extremely rare in prepubertal children [1][2][3] . In an extensive study of the literature we have found only 2 cases, recorded by Kanner 3 and seen by him among the several thousand children he observed in his 4 decades as head of the Harriet Lane Children's Psychiatric Hospital and Outpatient Clinic of the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Folie à deux disorders are sometimes referred to as communicated, induced or simultaneous conditions and the term dissociative disorder is a synonym of dissociative hysteria.We have recently seen a case of this disorder in a brother and sister, aged 12 years and 1 month and 8 years and 7 months.

Shared Psychotic Disorder: A Psychosocial Psychosis?

“…As with most forms of psychosis, SPD can occur across the age range, with reports in the literature of children as young as 8 years [17] to the elderly [18]. The delusional beliefs of SPD can lead to serious consequences when acted upon, including death [19].…”