Identifying misidentifications: a phenomenological study.

This study assessed how well the current classification system of the delusional misidentification syndromes (DMSs) represents the full range of misidentification phenomena encountered in self-descriptions of psychotic patients. To this end, a sample of 58 self-descriptions of ex-patients who had suffered from an episode of psychosis were reviewed. Misidentifications fitting the definition of one of the DMSs were identified in only 3 cases, whereas those fitting a general and broad definition were identified in 16 cases. It is argued that the restrictive nature of the currently dominant DMSs classification may have led to the neglect of a wide range of misidentification phenomena which do not fit the descriptions of any one of the classic DMSs. Proper identification, description and classification of these non-DMS misidentification phenomena is needed.