Wednesday, Lafayette, Indiana

This is a unique phenomenon where an individual with a psychotic disorder so affects another close to them that the previous, healthy person also takes on the bizarre delusions. As incredible as it sounds it is an insight into the power we have to influence the mental state of another. Not surprisingly when this unique disorder occurs it is often between siblings and married couples.

When shared psychosis emerges it is most frequently between a couple who are socially isolated and cut off from the contrasting realities of others. In the most common scenario one individual develops psychotic delusions and they impart their odd ideas to another, more passive cohort. And in some few cases the psychotic delusions infect the thinking and belief system of a larger group of people who fall under the sway of the originally psychotic individual.

When reflecting on this description it makes us wonder about the impact that individuals with strange, maladaptive ideas have on those immediately around them. Thinking about cults, gangs and other collections of people who share twisted ideas, the notion that this can actually be contagious is more than a little unnerving. But it explains a lot about the influence we can have on others when they are otherwise disconnected from a wide variety of other voices.

Signs that you are too close to a delusional person:

1. Your sister shaved her head to “keep the government at bay”

2. You fall in love with a woman after learning that she communicates with you telepathically

3. Your boss has ordered everyone in the office to wear lederhausen pants

4. While dressing for a formal wedding you spouse persuades you to wear bib overalls

5. Without any reason your husband suggests that you wear fedora hats with fruit on the brim

6. Your father demands that everyone in the family wear aluminum foil hats

7. The week before your wedding your fiance insists that you shave your eyebrows

8. Each morning your husband reads aloud threats against your family that he decodes from the local newspaper

9. Your brother convinces you that the secret to contentment is to extract your own teeth with pliers

10. The family dog gives instructions for the day’s activities in your home