Fregoli Syndrome is a very rare psychological disorder in which a person experiences delusions that lead him or her to believe that a single person is actually multiple different people. It is a delusion misidentification syndrome, also known as a DMS. The condition is named after the famed Italian actor: Leopold Fregoli. During his stage performances, he would make abrupt changes to his appearance.
In 1927, a 27-year-old woman’s case was analyzed by a team of top psychiatrists; the case notes suggested that the woman was being pursued and persecuted by two different actors whom she frequently saw on stage during various theater performances. She believed that she was being heavily pursued by these actors, and that they had taken on the form of people she actually knew or had met. She was given the diagnosis: Fregoli syndrome.
1. Delusions And Hallucinatory Episodes
The delusion and hallucinogenic phase of Fregoli syndrome is the most anxiety-inducing for the patient. Diagnosing a person with Fregoli syndrome is very easy, because every case presents much in the same way with the same set of triggers and delusions. Since 1927, however, only about 50 documented and diagnosed cases have been discovered. It is a very rare disease, with the hallucinations and delusions thought to be the result of a distinct type of brain tumor. Patients suffering from Fregoli syndrome have often been diagnosed with other psychiatric or mental illnesses. Sufferers have the delusion that people are going out of their way to change their visual appearance to harm the sufferer in some capacity.
They have excessive amounts of paranoia about the imposters they see following them. Sufferers of Fregoli syndrome often appear as if they are out of touch and spaced out, and they often demonstrate schizophrenic tendencies. Due to their confusion, they may have outbursts of mania and verbal or physical aggression towards their perceived pursuers or random people in a crowd.
[nextpage title=“Next” ]2. Lack Of Visual Memory
A person suffering from Fregoli syndrome has a hard time recalling places, people and events in an accurate way or within an appropriate timeline. People with Fregoli syndrome have an inappropriate balance of associative nodes. These biological nodes essentially download information into the brains of people with Fregoli syndrome and link people they know with the strangers they feel are pursuing them to harm them. Due to their inability to recall accurate details, they have a hard time visually tying experiences and people to memory in an appropriate way.
[nextpage title=“Next” ]3. Unable To Properly Manage Ones Self
Due to the heightened paranoia and inability to appropriately measure time and place, most people suffering from Fregoli syndrome are unable to properly manage basic day-to-day tasks and cannot regulate self-guided activities. While most sufferers are prescribed anti-psychosis medications, they still suffer symptomatic episodes. Most people with Fregoli syndrome require round-the-clock care from a licensed caregiver. Some Fregoli sufferers even end up in and out of mental health facilities when their symptoms are at their worst.
[nextpage title=“Next” ]4. Lack Of Self Awareness
A person with Fregoli syndrome is unaware of how their actions, verbal and physical outbursts, paranoia and rage impact onlookers, friends, family and strangers in a public setting. Their triggers are so deeply routed, that they are unable to tap into the part of the brain responsible for rational thought. They lack the ability to be able to blend in with the world around them and adhere to social and societal norms. Many sufferers of Fregoli syndrome also abuse drugs and alcohol in an attempt to escape their symptoms. Unfortunately, using illicit drugs and abusing alcohol only exacerbates the delusions, irrational thoughts and behaviors.
[nextpage title=“Next” ]5. Inability To Control Form Abstract Thought
Injury to the right frontal or left temporo-parietal areas of the brain can often cause Fregoli syndrome. When these areas of the brain are impacted by the disorder, abstract thought is absent. People with Fregoli syndrome can only live in the current moment. They lack the ability to discuss complex topics, concepts and thoughts that are not happening in the moment. They can only think about a person’s face in particular and how it is currently impacting their state of mind. They have a fixated mentality and blockage that does not afford them the ability to discuss complex topics that involve deep levels of thinking where conclusions are to be definitively drawn.
[nextpage title=“Next” ]6. Record Of Seizures
EEG abnormalities and episodes of epilepsy are heightened in patients with Fregoli syndrome. Long-term studies of patients with the disease often have a higher prevalence of experiencing stroke, dementia and Alzheimer’s, brain tumors and other head trauma. When the two hemispheres of the brain are in discord, Fregoli symptoms are exacerbated and the seizure frequency is greater. If complex partial seizures are present in people with Fregoli delusion, they are treated with the appropriate anti-seizure medication that will not interfere with the antipsychotic medications.
[nextpage title=“Next” ]7. Epileptogenic Episodes
Anticonvulsant medications are often combined with antidepressants and antipsychotic medicines to minimize the onset of epileptogenic episodes. The onset of visual anomalies is greatly reduced when Fregoli patients are placed on the right dosage of medications. These anomalies, when in their most heightened state, are what psychiatrists believe may trigger epileptogenic episodes. Although there is a plethora of information and research available on DMS, there are still many physiological unknowns. It is such a rare condition, that many experts are baffled by the true causes and triggers of this disease.
When attempting to diagnose Fregoli syndrome, one red-flag sign is often not enough to lead to a proper diagnose. A patient must present the inability to differentiate between people, have an out-of-touch version of reality, lack the ability to accurately depict places and time and have violent verbal and physical outbursts in order to receive a proper diagnosis. Due to the nature of schizophrenia, it is not uncommon for a person with Fregoli syndrome to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or mania as well. This rather misunderstood condition produces a lot of anxiety, confusion, rage and outbursts for the sufferer. It is important to treat someone with Fregoli syndrome with compassion, care and comfort.
