Ganser syndrome history book

The discovery of ganser syndrome is attributed to sigbert josef maria ganser 24 january 1853. It is characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions or doing things incorrectly, other dissociative symptoms such as fugue, amnesia or conversion disorder, often with visual pseudohallucinations and a decreased state of consciousness. It is characterized by the individual mimicking behavior they think is typical of a psychosis. It was first described by the psychiatrist sigbert ganser in 1898.

Ganser symptom complex the features of the syndrome considered were those cited by enoch and trethowan. A number of associated symptoms were also reported. Pdf neuropsychological presentation of ganser symptoms. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes. A personality disorder in which the patient describes dramatic but false symptoms or simulates acute illness, happily undergoing examinations, hospitalization, and diagnostic and therapeutic manipulations, and upon discovery of the real nature of his case often leaves without notice and moves on to another hospital. They discovered that hyperglutamatergic states, which are caused by both strokes and stress, share a relationship with dissociative symptoms, suggesting a possible organic pathology that can predispose individuals to the syndrome. Whether ganser syndrome is primarily a hysterical or an organic phenomenon has been debated in the literature. It is named for a german psychiatrist named sigbert ganser, who first described it in 1898 from an examination of male prisoners who were thought to be psychotic. Accounts of psychological symptoms following military trauma date back to ancient times. The ganser syndrome is rare in children and in adolescents. Sadgun bhandari, in core psychiatry third edition, 2012. Ganzer syndrome definition of ganzer syndrome by medical.

Ganser himself had noted impairment of grasp, attention, concentration, anxiety and perplexity as. A case of the ganser syndrome in a 14yearold girl, with three of the four essential features, is presented. There are episodic reports in the literature of ganser syndrome in patients with head trauma or strokes. They proposed that the ganser syndrome was a reaction io intolerable stress with a feeling of utter hopelessness. However, all the core symptoms are not needed for diagnosis. The ganser syndrome in two adolescent brothers sciencedirect. Ganser company 1906 w beltline hwy, madison, wisconsin 537 rated 4. Although the formulation of these criteria have been valuable in educating people in the field, their use as a tool has been somewhat limited due to the unclear nature of which criteria are. Gansers syndrome is usually sudden in onset and, like malingering, seems to arise in response to an opportunity for personal gain or the avoidance of some responsibility. Ganser did not doubt his patients were truly sick people. Approximately 70 cases have been described in the literature, most of them in prisoners.

Ganser described the syndrome after studying the behaviour of three inmates of a prison and thus it has acquired the synonym prison psychosis. He had noted a syndrome in three prisoners, the features of which included approximate answers to simple questions, perceptual abnormalities such as visual and auditory hallucinations, clouding of consciousness, and symptoms of somatic conversion. Pdf gansers syndrome is a rare and controversial condition. This is the website of chicago postpunk, no wave, noise chicago band ganser. A 1904 report by vorster argued that he found gansers symptoms.

Although considered to be essential for the diagnosis, approximate answers were cited as occurring in only 83 88. Ganser syndrome, trance logic, and the question of malingering. While whitlock 1967 held that the presence of approximate answers is the essential. The nosological conception of ganser syndrome gs has evolved. Gansers syndrome is a rare and controversial condition, whose main and most striking feature is the production of approximate answers or near misses to very simple questions. It is characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions or doing things incorrectly, other dissociative symptoms such as fugue, amnesia or conversion disorder, often with visual hallucinations and a decreased state of consciousness. Gansers syndrome with conversion symptoms can clearly cooccur with brain damage onset, as in a case who underwent a microembolic shower to. Ekbom 1938 described eight patients with the delusional conviction that they were infested with small organisms such as mites or insects, a condition he called. This was about 86% of all the recorded gansers in the usa. Factitious disorders or ganser syndrome personality. This has led to the idea that ganser symptoms are a dissociative reaction. Ganser syndrome, nosology, adolescents the ganser syndrome is an uncommon clinical entity usually seen in individuals awaiting criminal conviction or sentencing. Questions about its etiology, definition, and classification, as well as its status as a true mental illness versus a specific form of malingering has been the subject of multiple journal articles and book chapters. An english psychiatrist, lorna wing, popularized the term aspergers syndrome in a 1981 publication.

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our ganser research. Ganser syndrome uncountable a rare stressinduced dissociative disorder characterized by giving nonsensical answers to questions. Ganser syndrome, as it is now known, has been the subject of much debate since this. It is characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions or doing things incorrectly. Ganser syndrome is generally considered rare, but estimates of its prevalence depend upon the strictness of the diagnostic criteria used in reporting it haddad, 1993. A historical sketch and fuller description of the syndrome will help in.

It was named in honor of hans asperger 190680, who was an austrian psychiatrist and pediatrician. The history of posttraumatic stress disorder, complex. Learn about gansers syndrome, a type of fictitious disorder. However, there have been cases with both hysterical and organic elements. It is also sometimes called nonsense syndrome, balderdash syndrome, syndrome of approximate answers, pseudodementia, hysterical. However, the mechanisms by which these cerebral insults lead to ganser syndrome or other dissociative states are largely unknown. Ganser syndrome and lesion in the temporoparietal region. Ganser syndrome is a form of mental disorder in which the affected individual acts in a conscious manner in such as a way that he or she is terrible sick or unwell to gain attention when in fact the individual is perfectly normal. Ganser syndrome is a dissociative disorder that was previously thought to be a factitious disorder, where the patient displays symptoms of a physical or mental illness when no real condition is present. The american civil war 18611865 and the francoprussian war 18701871 mark the start of formal medical attempts to address the problems of military veterans exposed to combat.

Know the causes, symptoms, treatment and diagnosis of ganser syndrome. Its also known as imposter syndrome or capgras delusion. Ganser syndrome article about ganser syndrome by the. A study investigating the neurological basis of ganser syndrome, described a patient with symptoms of the disorder who had a history of stroke and bifrontal infarcts.

Ganser syndrome is a rare disorder with about a 100 documented cases worldwide that has been variously categorized as a fd or a dissociative disorder. In this is an introductory article, we shall examine together the history of posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd, and how complex posttraumatic stress disorder cptsd differs, specifically in how people living with either experience flashbacks. After rapid resolution in two weeks, ganser symptoms reappear seven months later accompanied, this second time, by previous depressive symptoms. Pennsylvania had the highest population of ganser families in 1840. The patient will offer nearly correct replies when asked questions about facts of common knowledge, such as the number of days in a year, the number of months in a year. The syndrome is very rare and primarily affects males.

Factitious disorder with mostly physical symptoms people with this disorder claim to have symptoms related to a physical illnesssymptoms such as chest pain, stomach problems, or fever. Synonyms for ekbom syndrome include delusions of infestation, delusional parasitosis and delusional infestation box 23. Ganser syndrome gahnser, a psychoticlike condition, without the. Ganser syndrome, as it is now known, has been the subject of much debate since this original paper. People with ganser syndrome have shortterm episodes of bizarre behavior that appear similar to serious mental illnesses. Ganser syndrome is a rare type of condition in which a person deliberately and consciously acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick. Ganser syndrome is a rare dissociative disorder characterized by nonsensical or wrong. The ganser family name was found in the usa, the uk, and canada between 1840 and 1920. The ganser syndrome is rare in children and adolescents. Gansers syndrome in 1897, the neurologist sigbert ganser first described the syndrome that bears his name while working at a penal institution in halle, germany.

Ganser syndrome definition of ganser syndrome by medical. Ganser delivered a lecture reporting upon a peculiar hysterical state in this lecture and its subsequent publication ganser, 18981965 he attached clinical significance to a constellation of symptoms and signs that came to bear his name. Sigbert ganser first described the syndrome while working at a penal institution in halle, germany. It is a relatively new diagnosis in the field of autism. Join facebook to connect with charity ganser and others you may know. It is not clear why the authors felt that those individuals who did not display approximate answers had ganser. Gs is briefly discussed in psychiatry textbooks under different. M mary in this case history, which shows the clinical features of the ganser syndrome. He didnt really look into how they were being treated in prison. Ganser syndrome medical education for undergraduate md. The diagnosis of ganser syndrome in the practice of. The most ganser families were found in the usa in 1920.

Ganser syndrome and lesion in the temporoparietal region ncbi. Case report of ganser syndrome in a 14yearold girl. Although this disorder was previously classified as a factitious disorder, the american psychiatric association has redefined gansers syndrome and placed it in the category called dissociative disorder not otherwise specified. Gansers syndrome is a factitious disorder, characterised by the individual mimicking behaviour they think are typical of a psychosis, by providing nonsensical or wrong answers to questions, and doing things incorrectly. A case of a patient with ganser syndrome with a prior history of stroke and bifrontal infarcts is described. Ganser syndrome is a rare dissociative disorder previously classified as a factitious disorder.