Matricide in schizophrenia : a case report

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Faten Ellouze
Rahma Damak
Imene Bouzuita
Mehdi Karoui
Rym Ridha
Mohamed Fadhel M'rad

Abstract

Introduction: matricide is the murder of the mother. In this study, we report through a clinical case the circumstances of matricide and we underlined the predictive elements of the acting out.
Clinical case: mister S, 31 years old had low socioeconomic conditions. He was a single man, unemployed and consumed alcohol. He was followed for a paranoid schizophrenia, but his therapeutic observance was bad, and he was aggressive with his mother. This aggressiveness was fostered by persecution and filiations’ delusions. At the moment of the crime, his mother had appeared to him as so terrifying form that he had to kill her to defend itself.
This clinical case confronts us with the difficulty of matricide prevention. If the short term prediction of the violence act was possible, the medium and long terms were harder.
Conclusion: the regular evaluation of psychotic patients’ dangerousness is needed to reduce the acting out risqué.

Keywords:

matricide, schizophrenia, acting out

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