Capgras Syndrome is a medical condition that results from brain trauma. If you jump off a roof and land on your head or fly into a hill, you could end up with Capgras. Once in a while, people with Alzheimer’s or schizophrenia can experience Capgras.
Capgras is also known as Imposter Syndrome because the afflicted believe that someone they know or love has been replaced by an imposter. In advanced cases, they are certain the loved one is a robot or hologram, or that whole towns or groups of people are replicas of the “real” towns or people they knew prior injury. Sometimes, the afflicted concoct conspiracy theories out of these imposter delusions as they try to make sense of their anxiety.
The first known case of Capgras Syndrome – identified by the French psychiatrist Joseph Capgras in 1923 – was that of “Madame M.,” who believed that her husband, and many of her neighbors, had been taken over by doubles. We might think of her experience as the prequel to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
There is some conversation among mental health professionals that Capgras can occur after minor but repeated assaults to the brain over a long term. Inveterate listeners to talk radio programs could become victims of Capgras, and viewers who limit their learning experience to a single media source are at risk as well.
Among the delusions of possible Capgras victims is that global warming is a hoax, that the holocaust never occurred, or that rich people will rain cash on working people if you cut the rich people’s taxes. As we see, brain injuries can be complicated.
If you have a friend or loved one who suffers from Capgras there are ways you can help them. Psychiatrists recommend that you enter into their reality because it helps to understand how terrifying their worlds are. Never argue with them or try to change their minds: appeals to logic, history, experience, morality, or to brute facts, simply frustrate them. Validate their feeling and make them feel safe.
And take care of yourself. Have a bottle of Old Bushmills on hand for when they leave the room.
I’m all for mercy and following up any human transaction with the best of Ireland. That said, I’m thrilled to see that the victims of one Capgras-diseased-propaganda-minister are suing him. Bravo, Sandy Hook parents.