Capgras syndrome - experiences and visualisation

[DominiqueH]

I've been really interested in a delusional disorder called Capgras Delusion or Capgras Syndrome.

Here is a brief explanation of Capgras delusion:
"In the Capgras delusion, the patient believes that one or more people close to him or her have been replaced by identical imposters, or possessed by a demon entity that changed the person out of their characteristics. For example, one male patient expressed the worry that his wife was actually someone else, who had somehow contrived to exactly copy his wife's appearance and mannerisms. This delusion sounds harmlessly hilarious, but it can get very ugly: in at least one case, a patient got so upset with the deceit that he murdered the hypothesized imposter - actually his wife."

Because of my interest in both this delusion, and illustration, I've tried to capture this delusion in a drawing. I've illustrated the 'perfect' relationship between two loved ones first. After this, I've manipulated both the pose and the illustration style into a new drawing, in which I've tried to capture the feeling of the Capgras Syndrome sufferers.

First you see two loved ones hug; the perfect mother-daughter relationship for example. In the second drawing you see the mother change into some kind of monster/demon; the 'imposter' of the mother. The illustration style transforms from cute, to scary.

Are there any (past) Capgras Sufferers on this forum, who are willing to share their opinion on my drawing? I would like to know if you think the drawing describes your delusion, or not, and why. Thank you in advance!

PS; because I'm a new user I unfortunately couldn't upload images. Please use the links below and remove the smily-faces.

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[DemiJay]

Wow, thank yo for trying to visualize this delusion. I, myself do not have/had this delusion, but my sister did. She indeed thought that our mother was possessed, and not herself. I think she will appreciate this drawing alot, especially because she had a lot of trouble explaining how she felt.
One thing I am wondering though, is why is the girl herself (who has the syndrome) also illustrated in this more negative style? Wouldn't it be more logical to only draw the mother in this demonic way?

[DemiJay]

Wow, thank yo for trying to visualize this delusion. I, myself do not have/had this delusion, but my sister did. She indeed thought that our mother was possessed, and not herself. I think she will appreciate this drawing alot, especially because she had a lot of trouble explaining how she felt.
One thing I am wondering though, is why is the girl herself (who has the syndrome) also illustrated in this more negative style? Wouldn't it be more logical to only draw the mother in this demonic way?

Hi again, I actually saw my sister an showed her your drawing, she really appreciated it and said it did capture the feeling of her Capgrass. She actually thought it was good that the girl with Capgrass in the drawing was also drawn in this more negative style. She said Capgrass made her see her loved ones differently, and negative, but also herself. She lost herself and thought she was going crazy most of the time; therefore the negative drawing style in your second drawing actually is appropriate.

[Richard@DecisionSkills]

Lol. Horrible sock puppet routine.

"Hi, I'm a new member that wants to promote my obscure art"

"Wow, I'm also a brand new member that joined the same day and your obscure art is wonderful!"

Gag. So obvious.