hii!! i recently read about something called Capgras delusion and i had to make a small post about it. It was too interesting not to share, so hereβs a short summary of what i found.
Capgras Delusion
Imagine looking at someone you love: your mother, your partner, your best friend... and feeling completely certain that they are not really them.
This disturbing condition is known as Capgras delusion, a rare psychological disorder in which a person believes that someone close to them has been replaced by an identical impostor.
The syndrome was first described in 1923 by French psychiatrist Joseph Capgras and his colleague Jean Reboul-Lachaux. They documented the case of a woman who insisted that many people she knew, including her husband, had been replaced by doubles or look-alikes.
What does the person experience? People with Capgras delusion can recognize the face of a loved one perfectly. The problem is not vision or memory. Instead, the emotional recognition is missing.
Normally, when we see someone familiar, the brain automatically produces a feeling of emotional familiarity. In Capgras delusion, that emotional signal seems to be disconnected. Because the face looks right but feels wrong, the brain tries to explain the strange sensation, and the person concludes that the real loved one must have been replaced by an impostor.
When does it occur? This condition is often linked to other neurological or psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, brain injuries affecting areas responsible for facial recognition and emotional processing, and more.
In some cases, the person believes only one specific individual is an impostor. In others, they may think that multiple people have been replaced.
For the person experiencing it, the belief is completely real. They are not joking or pretending, they genuinely feel that someone who looks identical to their loved one is a stranger wearing their face.
Because of this, the condition can cause fear, paranoia, and emotional distress, both for the patient and for the family members who suddenly find themselves treated like intruders in their own home.
For me, the human brain is fascinating and also deeply unsettling, but that's why i love it.
