Blog Post 5: An Impostor?

Imagine a family member who no longer recognized you as the person you are. Now imagine that the same family member believes you are a stand-in or an imposter of the real you: an individual who misidentifies a family member or friend. Sounds crazy right?  It sounds like something out of the 1956 sci-fi film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. In the classic 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the residents of a fictional town in California are overwhelmed by the feeling that their friends and family have been replaced by impostors. In the movie, this apparent delusion is not delusional at all. The townspeople are in fact being replaced — by aliens, no less. This classic movie is somewhat related to “Capgras Delusion”

What is Capgras Delusion? Is this some sort of hallucination or something? Is this an example of an illness or rare disease? Articles relating to this topic are “How Capgras Syndrome Works” by Kattie Lambert and “AnImpostor in the Family written by Gerry Matlack. The articles explained that this disorder is called delusional misidentification, and also, this phenomenon is the opposite of déjà vu.  People with this kind of disorder think that their close relative or friend has been replaced by an impostor or an exact double, despite recognition of familiarity in appearance and behavior. The patient may also see himself as his own double. Individuals may also not recognize their home furnishings and pets as their own, believing they are exact replicas. If the person is married, he/she will most likely misidentify the spouse as a look-alike.

This mental disorder got its name from the psychiatrist, Joseph Capgras, who described this illness in 1923. His patient, Madame M., was convinced that her family and neighbors had all been replaced by lookalikes. She said she'd had 80 husbands -- one imposter would simply leave to make room for a new one. The medical community doesn't know what exactly causes Capgras delusion. However, there are many theories about what causes it; the causes may be caused by lesions or other abnormalities of the frontal lobe of the brain. Capgras delusion may also be a manifestation of other mental and physical disorders, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and other physical, neurological and mental disorders. Capgras delusion is most often seen in people who have psychotic disorders and those who have suffered some kind of head trauma.

Researchers believe that Capgras delusion is caused by damage to the frontal lobe, but they are yet to explain what actually causes the social, familial and environmental disconnection which causes the misidentification of people, animals and objects in a person's life. It is not completely understood, for example, why a husband could see his wife and believe she is someone who is identical to his wife and only pretending to be her.

In the other hand, Capgras Delusion is different from “Prosopagnosia”. It is also a disorder wherein the people can see a face for the hundredth time and still not know who it is. 

The brain is the most mysterious part of the human system, and inch by inch, we are knocking our doors towards the walls of enlightenment. Although at this time, the reason behind the emotional disconnection of people with Capgras Delusion cannot be explained, technological advances may later on describe it for the information of people. So now, beware of your self-proclaimed "impostors"!