Reduplicative Paramnesia: What It Is, Symptoms, Causes And Treatment

When we talk about reduplicative paramnesia, we are referring to a mental disorder of perception in which beliefs have as their main idea that a place has been copied or built in another space at the same time. In other words, the person who suffers from this clinical condition has the conviction that the same site exists in two or more different places, or that a certain site has been moved to another place. This set of thoughts is part of neurological disorders framed in delusional false identification syndromes.

There are some manifestations that must be taken into account when detecting this disorder. Next, we will mention the main symptoms of reduplicative paramnesia:

• Delusion regarding the identity or uniqueness of a person: The person firmly believes in what he sees or perceives despite the fact that there are facts that contrast it. For example, someone may believe that the same person is in two places with a great distance between them in Spain despite having seen them only once or that they have been duplicated. This is called reduplicative false identification.
• Certainty regarding the location of a site and/or a person: The patient who suffers from reduplicative paramnesia does not doubt that the same person or the same place has been duplicated or copied, but rather has an absolute conviction about these facts. This is not a question of fantasy but of absolute security.

In general terms, we can mention that reduplicative paramnesia has its origin mainly in neurological damage that affects different areas of the brain responsible for information processing of the world. This means that if we have an injury in a certain sector of the brain, this will result in some alterations in our daily activities. On the other hand, there are other causes related to psychiatric diagnoses that can explain the emergence of the disorder. Among the most relevant causes of reduplicative paramnesia are the following:

Organic causes

Certain diseases or situations may occur that cause damage to the brain. Damage usually occurs in the ventral route of the visual system, which is connected to areas of the temporal lobe. This can cause difficulties in processing memories.

Examples This group includes meningioma, subdural hematoma, migraine, frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, subarachnoid hemorrhage, brain metastasis, Morvan syndrome, arteriovenous malformation, brain trauma, ischemic stroke, circle of Willis aneurysm, and infections such as viral encephalitis and abscess. brain, among others.

Psychiatric causes

There are mental illnesses that have a link with reduplicative paramnesia. In this group we will place the bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression among others.

The causes that we explain here are not always linked to reduplicative paramnesia. Organic diseases or neurological damage may not result in this disorder. Likewise, mental illnesses do not have a direct consequence of this clinical picture either. The causes and symptoms that the person presents should be evaluated by a health professional since he will be in charge of indicating an appropriate treatment and observing the patient’s evolution over time.

These beliefs may be part of delusional ideas related to some type of psychosis, which is a serious mental illness that requires psychiatric and psychological treatment. That said, we will explain what the possible treatments for reduplicative paramnesia consist of:

• Psychiatric treatment: The patient is given psychiatric medication depending on the characteristics of the condition presented. Here it is important to take into account when the symptoms began, what causes determine the disorder, age, sex, one’s own and family medical history, among others. The most prescribed psychiatric medications are antipsychotics, which act directly in the body, reducing prevalent symptoms. Examples of antipsychotics are sulpiride and olanzapine.
• Psychological treatment: Therapy can help the patient understand the type of thoughts they have about duplicating objects, people or places. However, it is essential to emphasize the use of medication.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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