Incubus Assaulting the Whole Family: A Case Report of Folie a Famille from North India
Robin Victor, Priyaranjan Avinash, Twinkle Sharma, Rohit Gondwal
Keywords :
Case report, India, Psychotic disorder, Schizophrenia, Shared paranoid disorder
Citation Information :
Victor R, Avinash P, Sharma T, Gondwal R. Incubus Assaulting the Whole Family: A Case Report of Folie a Famille from North India. Ind J Priv Psychiatry 2024; 18 (1):31-32.
As per cultural beliefs, the incubus is a sex demon attempting to have intercourse with a female. Incubus syndrome has been described in patients either with schizophrenia or with delusional/psychotic disorders. Shared psychotic disorder (SPD) describes a phenomenon in which delusion/psychotic features are transferred from one member of the family to other susceptible family members who are in a close relationship. The majority of the literature about SPD describes shared delusion among two family members known as folie à deux. Few cases mention folie à famille in which more than two members have the same delusion/psychotic feature. Here, we report a case of incubus syndrome affecting the whole family. We highlight various factors playing a role in its etiopathogenesis and the approach we took for its management. Since both these disorders are quite rare hence an early acknowledgement and adequate intervention would help in the management of the cases.
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