Primary and secondary depersonalisation disorder: a psychometric study.

Introduction: Depersonalisation may be part of a symptom-complex, a primary or a secondary disorder. Optimal methods of measurement and diagnosis have not been established.

Methods: We assessed 42 patients with primary or secondary depersonalisation, plus psychiatric and non-psychiatric controls using a variety of self-report questionnaire scales including the Beck depression and anxiety Inventories, and one developed by the authors (the Fewtrell Depersonalisation Scale (FDS)).

Delusional misidentification of familiar inanimate objects. A rare variant of Capgras syndrome.

A 52-year-old woman presented exclusively with delusional misidentification of inanimate objects in the context of a short-lived acute psychotic episode. Certain theories are useful in understanding the formation of delusions of doubles in the patient (e.g.

Pattern of discussion in traditional and novel ward-round procedures.

A novel ward-round procedure was introduced on an acute psychiatric admissions ward. There was an equal balance in number of staff and patients attending the meetings simultaneously, and all team members participated in the interviewing and discussion. This was compared to the traditional type of ward-round procedure in which one patient attends at any given time, and the consultant is the exclusive interviewer and director of team discussion.