#intermetamorphosis

[foxylalonde]

Delusional Misidentification Syndrome

[ID: a 5 striped flag with a black border and shine effect on it. The stripes from top to bottom are silver, brown, pink, green, and silver. The second image portrays the same flag, but with labeling for each color’s meaning, which will be listed again under the cut.]

Delusional Misidentification Syndrome flag!! Can be used as an awareness flag or a pride flag, and is free for anyone to use ^v^

Black Border: general DMS delusions

Black Dots: Delusional belief of identical copies of something (such as in Subjective Doubles and Reduplicative Paramnesia) and delusional belief that multiple people are the same person (eg Fregoli Delusion)

Silver inner and outer stripe: Delusional belief that something has been replaced with an identical copy (eg Mirrored Self Misidentification and Capgras Syndrome)

Brown stripe: Delusional belief that one can or has shapeshifted (eg Intermetamorphosis and Clinical Lycanthropy)

Pink stripe: Delusional belief in sentience of the non sentient (eg Syndrome of Delusional Companions)

Green stripe: Delusional belief that one is dead, decaying, missing their soul, etc. (eg Cotard’s Syndrome)

[r477m4n-wh34713y]

[radiomogai]

[PT: intermetamorphosis delusion: a delusion of physical and psychological transformation/misidentification of others. End PT]

intermetamorphosis delusion: a delusion of physical and psychological transformation/misidentification of others.

[wc-confessions]

As someone who's both psychotic and Indigenous, Bramblefur rubs me the absolute wrong way. Like we've had conversations about how the topic needed to be treated with care due to the. Well. *Motions towards Ashfur wearing Bramblestar's pelt.* But the way the description is phrased makes my skin crawl.

"Ashfur is obsessed with becoming Brambleclaw! Ashfur thinks that if he can look like Brambleclaw that Squirrelflight will love him. ... he has to BE Brambleclaw." I dunno, to me personally it feels like a violent portrayal of intermetamorphosis or erotomania.

[killthecoroner]

intermetamorphosis

[hauntedselves]

Introduction to: Delusional Misidentification Syndrome

What is Delusional Misidentification Syndrome?

Delusional misidentification syndrome (DMS) is an umbrella term for a collection of delusions that involve misidentifying a person, object, place, body part, or the delusional person themselves.

DMSs are associated with neurological trauma, dissociation, and schizophrenic disorders.

Types of DMSs

DMSs typically involve misidentifying one of three things: the self, the other, and/or the place.

The self: These delusions involve the misidentification of the person themselves, or a part of their body.

The other: These delusions involve the misidentification of other people, pets, or objects.

The place: These delusions involve the misidentification of places or locations.

The Self

Mirrored self misidentification is the delusion that the person's reflection is someone else.

Syndrome of subjective doubles is the delusion that the person has a double (doppelgänger / clone) of themselves acting independently.

Cotard('s) delusion / syndrome is the delusion that the person, or parts of their body or organs, are dead, dying, or don't exist. Most people with this delusion have severe depression.

Clinical lycanthropy is the delusion that the person has turned, or is turning, into an animal. It can be considered a type of reverse intermetamorphosis.

The Place

Reduplicative paramnesia is the belief that a place or location (or, rarely, an object, person, or part of the body) as having been copied, existing in two places at the same time, or moved to a different location. Most case studies involve people reporting the hospital they are in is in their home town, when it isn't. "Paramnesia" is commonly called déjà vu.

The Other

Capgras delusion is the delusion that someone close to the person, such as a friend, family member, or a pet, has been replaced with an identical imposter.

Fregoli delusion is the delusion that other people are actually the same person in disguise. Capgras and Fregoli delusions often co-exist.

Intermetamorphosis is the delusion that other people can change their appearance and personality at will, pretending to be the person they are basing themselves off.

Delusional companion syndrome (DCS) is the delusion that objects (often stuffed toys) are sentient, and have their own sense of self, wants and needs.

What can be done for a person with DMS?

Option 1: Nothing. Psychotic people can live happy lives without any intervention!

Option 2: Therapy. This can include either accepting the delusion / going along with it, or trying to change it. It can be used in combination with pharmacotherapy (medication).

Option 3: Pharmacotherapy. Antipsychotics and other medication can help reduce symptoms. It can be used in combination with talk therapy.

No matter what choice the person makes (and it should be up to the person), the desired outcome is reducing suffering (which might not mean trying to stop or slow the psychosis) and increasing their quality of life.

[someone-online]

Here!! Intermetamorphosis by Jessepinwheel on AO3, the concept was done differently from what you drew but it’s the same premise overall and also just as heartbreaking.

Dead.

[Next]

[robbyrobinson]

Bonnie's Bakery theory

One of my favorite indie games at the moment is Bonnie's Bakery. To briefly explain what it is: the first half of the game has you play as the titular Bonnie, the sole human in a town full of sapient animals. She runs a popular bakery her specialties being her red velvet cake; meet buns; and white-powdered doughnuts. Should you finish up the lunch rush, Bonnie determines that it was time to acquire some new ingredients leading to the shocking twist of just what it is that makes her pastries to die for.

So, I will start by saying this is a theory but not something I believe that the game's creators were implicating.

Bonnie, in my hypothesis, suffers from lycanthropic intermetamorphosis a condition that causes those diagnosed with it to perceive other humans as being transformed into animals. This is why Bonnie appears to be the only human in the game: she THINKS she is. Which also explains a few more things.

Aside from her suffering from lycanthropic intermetamorphosis, Bonnie is not psychologically there. This is shown by the game's setup: the first half of the game appears to be your typical cooking simulation like Cooking Mama with a hint of Animal Crossing to add to the mix. In the first half, everything is cheerful and sunshine rainbows because Bonnie perceives her reality as such.

However, the second half of the game is the true reality that the imprisoned MC is in. Even then, Bonnie looks like she still believes that she is in her own world with her incessant humming. Her killing you if she catches you could be interpreted as her perceiving you as an animal that escaped its cage.

More evidence to the notion that the animals actually are humans: the character you play is depicted as being fully humanoid with nary a tail or animal ears to speak of. Sure, you can argue it is because the character is mostly meant to be the default design for the player, but considering how we see the MC escape with the limbless panda in tow, it leans more towards the player character also being human.

This calls to mind how Bonnie mentioned she was about to close up shop when a heavily injured rabbit came to her for help. I'm sure you know what I am about to say.

The "rabbit" was actually a small child, an orphan perhaps, that was gravelly wounded but still was able to crawl their way to Bonnie's bakery. She had very little in terms of medical treatment, and the child was not getting better. And she could probably get accused of wrongdoing should anyone find out about the child, so Bonnie did the next best thing or the most logical thing she could formulate: cooking the child into the meat buns.

[feyinvestigations]

13 😳

13 fics ago was Intermetamorphosis by Jessepinwheel!

This- this is a sad one

Pretty much shows one of the worst case scenarios for Phoenix and Maya getting tazed in 1-4

Does have major character death, but spirit channeling is a thing sooo-

[forensicfield]

UGC NET Exam Jan 2017 Forensic Science Paper-2 Question paper with Answer Key

UGC NET Exam Jan 2017 Forensic Science Paper-2 Question paper with Answer Key

Read now

1. A delusion in which the person feels that a close family member has been replaced by an identical looking stranger, is known as:

(1) Capgras syndrome

(2) Fregoli syndrome

(3) Syndrome of intermetamorphosis

(4) Clerambault syndrome

Answer:

(1) Capgras syndrome

2. Currens rule is used :

(1) To determine legal insanity

(2) To determine cause of death in infanticide

(3) To differentiate…

[knight-of-heart-and-art]

Have you ever thought of doing a character with lycanthropic intermetamorphosis in a fic? It's a real life condition where people perceive their family and close friends as turning into various animals, and it's very interesting to read about.

ooh, maybe! that'd be something i'd have to do a decent amount of research on and preferably discuss with someone who actually has the condition, though.

[kikiofthevast]

Fanfic I have downloaded on my phone

I do recommend all of these and read them fairly consistently.

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Sanders Sides

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A Lovely Night - Peter164

Summary:

Virgil has a boyfriend, a dramatic, over the top, self absorbed boyfriend. But his dad doesn't know. He asks for some help from a trusted adult. This trusted adult just happens to be his teacher. But it seems that there always has to be a secret boyfriend in the family when his dad starts dating.

Genre: Fluff and Smut

Ships: Prinxiety + Logicality

My Thoughts: Fantastic, and you can skip the smut chapters without missing anything. It's a good, pretty healthy, supportive romance on both ends and I love reading it, it's so nice.

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Powerless - patentpending (on Ao3) (Tumblr: @/impatentpending)

Summary:

“People like us,” Logan had once remarked to Virgil. “Are statistical anomalies.”

(Almost) Everyone in the world has powers. As for those who don’t, well, they’re such a small part of the population - only 0.04% - why would anyone care about them?

Ever since he realized what people mean when they call him Powerless, Virgil Sanders has tried to fight back against the system that oppresses people like him, Patton, and Logan. When Patton’s bakery is targeted in a hate crime, he finally snaps. With the help of a mysterious sponsor, Virgil becomes a villain, ready to remake a broken society. The only thing standing in his way is the world’s most Powerful (and infuriatingly charming) superhero: The Prince, who is hiding the fact that his gilded life isn’t as perfect as it may seem.

Genre: Angst

Ships: Prinxiety + Logicality (with background OC+OC)

My thoughts: Without a doubt one of the best fanfics I've ever read. The author likes to keep readers on their toes and surprise you around ever corner. Every part of the plot is well-executed and enjoyable, and you can feel the emotion of the characters.

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Horizons - triggermoreliketiger (I know they have a Tumblr but I don't know what it is)

Summary:

The life of Roman del Rey was planned to the bits. Born in a wealthy family he was supposed to take over his father’s business. His last moments of freedom? The journey abroad. He couldn’t have predicted that when he would come back, everything he knew was about to change.

On the opposide side of social ladder, the genius inventor- Logan Sanders was struggling to make it through another day. His only chance? Get himself a sponsor rich enough to fund another year of Logan’s work. He couldn’t know that his last chance would blew up right into his face.

Genre: Angst

Ships: Prinxiety + Logicality

My thoughts: Holy crap I love this fic so much you wouldn't even believe. I adore the way everyone is characterized and Virgil and Patton are probably my favorites on that front. Just go read it, you won't regret it.

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Patton's Break - Shay_Nioum (Tumblr: @/sidespromptblog)

Summary:

When Patton snaps one day, it directly affects Logan. A misunderstanding on Patton's part, and a broken heart on Logan's.

Genre: Angst

Ships: Platonic Logicality

My thoughts: I read this whenever I need to cry. It's such quality angst and I love it a lot. Logan is trying so hard, poor boi.

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Ace Attorney

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The Phantom's Curse - gen

Summary:

Everyone knows the story of the Phantom; usually mothers whisper it to their babies to get them to behave, or it's told around the campfires of travelers. What they don't know, however, is that it is very real, and the Phantom could be watching at any time, from any set of eyes.

Genre: Angst and Adventure

Ships: Wrightworth/Narumitsu

My thoughts: I'm a sucker for pirates. I love the way this fic was written and executed you you should go read it. Also: don't be me and waste time being suspicious of Kristoph because he ain't evil in this. Still a bit of an ass, though. All the references to the cases were nice and the whole plotline was just so fun and enjoyable.

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A Beautiful Thing - wrightgotwronged

Summary:

"The Girl was offering me a way out...and I was desperate enough to believe her,"

Private Inspector Phoenix Wright is given the case of a lifetime when the mysterious Dahlia Hawthorne walks into his office. With a missing girl and murder on his plate, Phoenix is caught in a whirlwind of confusion and deceit. His past coming back to haunt him in the form of the District Attorney doesn't seem to help either.

Genre: Angst and Mystery

Ships: Eventual Wrightworth (Brief Phoenix/Dahlia)

My thoughts: I adore this fic. It's got a good, substantial mystery, and though most people can predict some of the turns it takes, it's a fun ride and 10/10 would read again.

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Turnabout: Bloodline - MalikRuttingAssassinAss

Summary:

Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth collapses at work in the midst of a heated trial. What comes from his hospitalisation throws both his and Phoenix's worlds into mass confusion, exposing forgotten family secrets, a murder, and uncharted feelings.

Genre: Angst and Smut (with a side of Fluff and Comedy)

Ships: Wrightworth/Narumitsu

My thoughts: This is a fantastic storyline, Phoenix is also kind of an idiot for the first bit but it's still really entertaining and nice.

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The Turnabout of Hazakura - MalikRuttingAssassinAss

Sequel to Turnabout: Bloodline

Summary:

Losing patience with the so-called "gift" of his lineage, Miles Edgeworth, along with Phoenix Wright, seeks the tutelage of the Nuns of Hazakura temple. Whilst hoping to control his "gift" with a punishing endurance regime, a horrific murder is discovered within the Temple grounds, and the evidence points towards one person.

Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, and Smut

Ships: Previously established, also developing Phoenix/Miles/Simon

My thoughts: This fic is incredible and I agree with Miles on the reveal of a certain plot point, honestly. But the mystery is well-executed and I just love the inclusion of Shi Long Lang (even though I haven't played either of the Investigations games).

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sleep no more - prinsipe

Summary:

Blood is thicker than water.

Or: Klavier deals with the aftermath.

Klavier’s first memory of blood went a little like this: the turkey at the family dinner, the worn handle of the knife, and Kristoph’s brown hands.

In retrospect, it was those details that stuck out at him above all else—the family dinner, because it was the first and last of its kind, the worn handle of the knife because it made him think of how it looked like it was made for the grooves of Kristoph’s hands, and Kristoph’s hands because they moved in a way that made him think he was born for the kitchen, not the courtroom.

(Of course, as a child, it had slipped his mind that knives weren’t just used for cooking.)

Genre: Angst and minor Hurt/Comfort

Ships: Pretty Background Klapollo, implied past Daryan/Klavier

My thoughts: A very long but a very good fic. I love the way everyone is characterized, and honestly this is one of those stories that you get more out of it if you read it aloud. Klavier is just alone, and I love the way Apollo slowly helps him get back up.

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Damage Control - pantswarrior

Summary:

After an emotional reaction from Phoenix following Edgeworth's return, Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth chooses death in truth. Fortunately for Phoenix, he doesn't quite succeed - and both of them have to learn a few lessons about communication.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort

Ships: Wirghtworth/Narumitsu

My thoughts: This is such a good story, but things have to get worse before they get better so read the tags and proceed with caution.

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Lost in a Lie - court-ships (virtualbrownie)

Summary:

Miles Edgeworth learned to kill when he was a newborn, and he learns to love it at the age of six.

Genre: Angst and a bit of Horror

Ships: None

My thoughts: This is really dark, but I really like it and you should definitely proceed with caution. Warnings for character death, murder, animal death, and blood.

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Intermetamorphosis - Jessepinwheel

Summary:

Or: Five Times Miles Edgeworth Didn't Know What Was Wrong With Phoenix and One Time He Wished He Didn't.

Or: God dammit Phoenix, stop shoving evidence in criminals' faces, or at least invest in a recorder.

Or: The story where Phoenix dies, but that doesn't stop him from being an ace attorney.

Genre: Comedy and Angst

Ships: None

My thoughts: This story is ridiculous but it's the good kind of ridiculous. There's just something so bizzarely funny about this happening that you just laugh at Miles's ignorance. Okay, that sounds mean, but really Miles?

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Turnabout Santa Claus - lostangelssong

Summary:

A Christmas trial that could have been.

Genre: Comedy

Ships: None

My thoughts: It's literally just Miracle on 34th Street. That's all it is. But it's so gosh darn funny and ridiculous that I had to recommend it.

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The Rise and Fall of the Stalk Trucy Wright Club - SlashPrincess15 (slashprincess15)

Summary:

Trucy Wright is a weird girl who makes all sorts of claims that cannot possible be true, at least that's what her school's student population believe. It all changes however when she starts getting picked up from school again.

Genre: Comedy and Angst

Ships: None

My thoughts: Such a nice fic, honestly. It's pretty funny, and the interactions Trucy has with the people that come to pick her up are fantastic.

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The Realm - Farris

Summary:

It started off normal and innocent enough: a welcome home party for Iris.

But when a demon comes slashing through, bringing a world of ghosts and crazy with it, Maya Fey has no choice but to stand as Master to save her friends and restore balance to the Afterlife. Unfortunately, she's not Master yet. Nor is she sure she wants to be, given all that's happened to her and her family. Oh, and things only get worse when she discovers she must face a series of Trials to prove herself and her worthiness of said Master title.

Still very bitter about Kurain's role in DL-6, Miles Edgeworth finds himself having to come to terms with spiritual powers as he tags along to the realm between this world and the next. And then there are the monsters. And the gods, his father, and the Trials. Not to mention something is very much wrong with Wright... like the fact that he's not dead.

Genre: Action, Adventure, and Angst

Ships: None

My thoughts: Definitely in my top 10 favorite fics, if "A Beautiful Thing" is a 10/10, then this thing is off the scale. Also Gregory being a Good Dad™ deserves it's own book.

[r477m4n-wh34713y]

someone cut me open and replaced me bit by bit with circuit boards and wires. I can feel the piston in my chest pumping coolant through me and the clockwork in my ears tick away. I am a cruel amalgamation of parts. I am someone’s long rusted experiment.

[hotel-japanifornia]

I think this is what you’re looking for: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10055219

hi! so sorry, question for ace attorney fandom -

trying to find that fic where phoenix dies after being shocked by Manfred von Karma's stun gun and goes through the series being channeled by Maya? and Miles finds out much much later? thanks!

[jessepinwheel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Naruhodou Ryuuichi | Phoenix Wright, Mitsurugi Reiji | Miles Edgeworth, Ayasato Mayoi | Maya Fey Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, POV Outsider, (the outsider is Miles), Ghosts, sort of, GS2 spoilers, Spirit Channeling, Secrets Summary:

Or: Five Times Miles Edgeworth Didn't Know What Was Wrong With Phoenix and One Time He Wished He Didn't.

Or: God dammit Phoenix, stop shoving evidence in criminals' faces, or at least invest in a recorder.

Or: The story where Phoenix dies, but that doesn't stop him from being an ace attorney.

(Spoilers through the end of Justice For All)

Notes: Here’s that Ace Attorney fanfic I promised. Because it’s me, obviously it’s a story in which PHOENIX DIES. (It’s not as angsty as it sounds.)

[joneswilliam72]

Jordan Peele’s Us: A historic & psychological look at the doppelgänger.

While there is no doubt Jordan Peele's newest horror piece Us will shock and amaze us in ways we do not yet know – like Get Out did – there are a few themes in it that deserve a thorough look before the film hits the big screen March 22 – if for no other reason than the ubiquity of those themes in cinema and other forms of art and their inherent interesting qualities as background information.

Probably the most prevalent of those themes from what we know of Us so far, is the doppelgänger, (German for "double walker") or non-genetically related double of a person – that double usually being an evil entity. Us – from what we know so far – centers on a family (played by Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex) battling their doppelgängers.

This certainly adds interesting challenges for the actors in playing two (essentially) separate people in Peele's film, and will most likely have some symbolic meaning of us being our own worst enemies – which actually ties in to what the doppelgänger as a neurological and psychiatric phenomenon can tell us about the neurobiology behind emotion and how we construct a sense of self (more on this below).

Yet, what of the doppelgänger's larger impression in art, culture, science and even history? Indeed, there are many documented occurrences of famous figures like President Abraham Lincoln (who allegedly saw his double the night of his inauguration), Queen Elizabeth I (who saw hers shortly before she died), and Percy Bysshe Shelley (who's story is below) encountering their doppelgängers very much in the flesh – and usually right before they died. Surely, considering the expressly social content in Get Out, Peele will draw on this huge record too.  

Spiritualists and mystics have often labeled the doppelgänger “a demon”, echoing that idea that they are a portent of doom. Others (including the extensive use of the doppelgänger in Gothic literature) have detailed it as some type of ghost, phantom or specter. Still others have said the doppelgänger is us traveling through a number of different dimensions or wormholes in time. Broadly relates a story about a man who was walking down the street when he saw himself walk by in the opposite direction. Eight years later, the same man walked past himself going the same way in the opposite direction (his story oddly echoes Goethe's story below). There is even a whole subreddit dedicated to these types of occurrences.

Science has proffered a number of explanations for the doppelgänger phenomenon. The evolutionary one basically says that because you don't see much of the diversity between how humans look in other species, it really isn't surprising to think there's someone who looks exactly like you somewhere. For instance, can you really tell two squirrels apart? Thus goes this explanation that maybe we are to some degree, just seeing what we want to see there, and that diversity does not really exist – at least, not to the level we believe. Ergo, there could be someone out there who looks exactly like you. The possibility of the genetic lottery randomly combining the same options a number of times also adds credence to this idea.

Still, other studies have pegged the likelihood of an exact doppelgänger as about 1 in 1 trillion. And even if there was a higher likelihood, this explanation really doesn't say anything about the malevolence that is so often ascribed to the doppelgänger.

What neurology and psychology have to say makes more sense (and is infinitely interesting). Psychology and neuroscience may hold a partial (but better) answer to this in describing "the doppelgänger phenomenon," or delusions characterized by a belief in a doppelgänger or some variant of it. These include hallucinations of seeing a double (known as "syndrome of subjective doubles" in psychiatry) and so-called "out of body experiences".

The lobes of the brain.

The medial temporal lobe. Source: American Journal of Neuroradiology.

"Autoscopy" (also spelled "Heautoscopy") is another component of the neurological and psychiatric explanation of the doppelgänger. It is characterized by seeing one's double at a distance and is often a symptom of schizophrenia, brain damage or epilepsy – particularly temporal lobe epilepsy, which often produces profound hallucinations and has also been correlated with intense religious visions. Even anti-Parkinson treatment with levodopa can cause all the delusions described in this article. These occurrences can also be co-morbid with other psychotic disorders and even bi-polar disorder.

"Polyopic autoscopy" is seeing more than one double. One case was noted of a patient who saw five doubles and was later found to have a tumor in his temporal lobe.  While another related phenomenon called "negative autoscopy" is not seeing one's reflection when looking in a mirror.

This type of psychiatric pathology can get even more bizarre than the doppelgänger phenomenon and include something seemingly right out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That, in fact, is basically what "Capgras Delusion" is: the belief that a person close to you is the same physically but that a different intelligence and personality is controlling them or that the person has been replaced by an identical looking impostor.

One interesting thing about Capgras: it generally does not occur in the sufferer when they are taking to the person who is the subject of their delusion over the phone (or otherwise out of sight). All is (relatively) normal and placid. It is when visuals are a factor that the delusion takes hold because of the specific wiring affected in the brain of the sufferer. Their facial recognition system is what is at fault here in the brain. As the incredible behavioral neurologist, researcher and author Dr. Vilayanur S. Ramachandran (whose books, especially "Phantoms in the Brain", I highly recommend interested parties seek out) has noted: this delusion causes incredible upset and fear in the sufferer too, when they fundamentally cannot rely on their faculty of visual recognition. Capgras can also happen with inanimate objects.

Dr. Ramachandran explains Capgras Delusion.

"Intermetamorphosis" is a variant of Capgras where the sufferer perceives that object of their delusion has been transformed physically and psychologically into another person.  

"Fregoli's Delusion" is similar to Capgras but different. It is the delusional belief that different people are in fact the same person changing form or in disguise. 

The best proof of how this all relates to emotion and our sense of self (besides the involvement of the temporal lobe in these various delusions) is ultimately in two hypotheses which have been proffered to explain these "syndromes of misidentification". The first is that of "prosopagnosia", or "face blindness", where all other intellectual faculties are intact but the ability to recognize familiar faces (including one’s own) is absent. This is often a direct result of damage to the temporal lobe or a disease affecting it, like Alzheimer’s Disease.   

The second hypothesis is the opposite of the first: it is over-identification, where the brain imputes too much information in identifying a face and consequently major emotional regions like the temporal lobe are over active.

Certainly the medical literature on this is very interesting in its own right.  Yet, no matter what the medical, psychological, or biological basis of the doppelgänger (if any) is, there have been a number of recorded instances of cultural luminaries seeing their doubles, often before death or some other horrible occurrence. Others have put in the historical record stories they themselves have encountered of the doppelgänger, likely with varying degrees of truth, yet they are all entertaining in their own right and have shaped the popular mind and zeitgeist for many years.

American politician and social reformer Robert Dale Owen related the story of 32-year-old French teacher Emilie Sagée who was teaching at a girl's school in Latvia in 1845. One day as she wrote at the chalkboard, her exact double came in and stood next to her, copying her every movement (still somehow – the story goes – she didn't see it). Thirteen of Ms. Sagée's students allegedly witnessed this. The next year, Sagée's double allegedly appeared again – this time in front of the entire school while Sagée could be seen working in the school's garden. When the students approached it, the double vanished. 

French novelist Guy de Maupassant was inspired to write his short story "Lui?" ("He?") after an 1889 experience – he alleged – with his doppelgänger, who he says dictated the story. He would later claim several experiences with his doppelgänger over the years. The author would be institutionalized in 1892 following a suicide attempt. He died one year later. De Maupassant had syphilis, which – if it damaged his temporal lobe – could explain his experiences with his double.   

The great author of "Faust", Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, wrote of an experience with his doppelgänger in his autobiography "Dichtung und Wahrheit" ("Poetry and Truth"). He describes riding to the town of Drusenheim to visit Frederike Brion, a young woman he was romantically involved with. As Goethe describes being "emotional and lost in thought" he saw his double dressed in a gray suit, trimmed with gold. Eight years later, Goethe found himself riding that same road to see Brion, this time wearing the gray suit with gold trim when that initial memory resurfaced in his mind and gave the writer great comfort.

Poet and husband to "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, told his wife he had seen his double on several occasions – not long after he told Mary about this, he died at sea in an accident. One time, his double spoke to him, saying, "how long do you mean to be content?" Jane Williams, a close friend to Mary, had seen Percy's double when it passed by her window one night. 

Film, in its comparatively short history, has done a lot with the concept of the double in various permutations. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 magnum opus Vertigo being probably the finest example, where the double becomes the way to hide misdeeds and murder. David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. (which takes more than a few cues from Vertigo, something I've written about here) also touches on the idea of a double in the juxtaposition of the film's dream world and real life. In fact, the double often recurs in Lynch's work, as it also is a factor in 1997's Lost Highway and 2006's Inland Empire; only it is a factor in different ways in those films than it was in Mulholland Dr. in 2001.

A few other films about a double or doppelgänger include Christopher Nolan's The Prestige (2006) about two rival magicians, Brian De Palma's Obsession (1976) and Femme Fatale (2002), Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940), Roman Polanski';s The Tenant (1976), Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980), and Ingmar Bergman's iconic Persona (1966) which also was a huge influence on David Lynch. Check out trailers for each of these below as all these movies are well worth watching.

As was said at the beginning of this piece, there is no doubt Jordan Peele will use Us's doppelgänger theme in new and impossible to predict ways. Nothing in this piece is meant to foresee Peele's work, merely to provide some scientific, historical, and artistic context for the doppelgänger theme as it has occurred throughout history and science. The hope being that that context may give the viewer a new appreciation of Us when we all finally get to see it March 22 of this year.

VERTIGO (1958) trailer.

MULHOLLAND DR. (2001) trailer.

LOST HIGHWAY (1997) trailer.

INLAND EMPIRE (2006) trailer.

THE PRESTIGE (2006) trailer.

OBSESSION (1976) trailer.

FEMME FATALE (2002) trailer.

THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940) trailer.

THE TENANT (1976) trailer.

KAGEMUSHA (1980) trailer.

PERSONA (1966) trailer.

from The 405 https://ift.tt/2GT37a9