Citation

Gómez-Durán EL, Carrión MI, Xifró A, Martin-Fumadó C. Actas Esp. Psiquiatr. 2010; 38(6): 374-376.

Affiliation

Centres Assistencials Emili Mira i López.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, STM Editores)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

21188678

Abstract

The main subject in criminal proceedings is that of criminal responsibility. From this point of view, bipolar disorders sometimes seem to be a highly neglected subject in legal scholarship. Yet these disorders may affect the decision-making capacity across the spectrum of the law, especially when manic and psychotic symptoms are involved. This case studies a 37-year-old woman, diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder, who attacked the neighbor of her ex-husband during a manic episode with psychotic symptoms. Two types of these psychotic symptoms are specially important: ideation of harm and experiences of passivity/ influence on the body and thought insertion (threat/ control-override symptoms). Hostility against her ex-husband was also involved in the attack. Researchers have described all those symptoms as important predictors of violence, and they have determinant legal correlates. Keywords: Bipolar disorder, threat/control-override symptoms, legal correlates, criminal responsibility.

Language: en