A Syndrome of Misinterpreting Role Changes as Changes of Person

A syndrome is described in three elderly women who all suffered from cerebral arteriosclerosis, and who in their dependent condition were looked after by their daughters. These women accepted their daughters as their daughters when carrying out directly caring tasks related to them, but spoke of them and addressed them as different women, with the same forenames as their daughters, when their daughters were engaged in other duties. This syndrome is compared with the syndromes of Capgras and similar conditions. It is likely to be detected with increasing frequency as psychiatrists become involved in the community aspects of the speciality.