Ganser Syndrome Follow-up

  • Author: Daniel Schneider, MD; Chief Editor: Eduardo Dunayevich, MD   more...
 
Updated: Sep 8, 2011
 

Prognosis

Amnesia for events during the syndrome is the most common sequela.

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Patient Education

The author of this article does not recommend any of the web sites currently available for patient use. Many have extremely limited and misleading descriptions. Some still identify the disorder as a factitious disorder (which is not necessarily true in all case and may cause confusion among patients and their families).

If the physician feels that the patient is suffering from a Ganser syndrome, it would be wise to discuss this diagnosis with the patient and family instead of relying on a web site to provide information. However, given that patients and their families are still likely to explore the Internet to learn more about the disorder, the physician may find it useful to explain early on that although some in the past have argued that this is always factitious in origin, we are no longer so certain that this is true in all cases, especially given case reports of patients with dementia or anoxic injuries presenting with this syndrome.

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Contributor Information and Disclosures
Author

Daniel Schneider, MD  Movement Disorders Fellow, Center for Parkinson's Disease and Other Movement Disorders, Columbia University Medical Center

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Brian R Szetela, MD  Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Consulting Psychiatrist, Psychiatric Consultation - Liaison Service, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center

Brian R Szetela, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Psychiatric Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, and Association for Convulsive Therapy

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Robert C Daly, MB, ChB, MPH  Senior Fellow, Department of Behavioral Endocrinology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Alan D Schmetzer, MD  Professor Emeritus, Interim Chairman, Vice-Chair for Education, Associate Residency Training Director in General Psychiatry, Fellowship Training Director in Addiction Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine; Addiction Psychiatrist, Midtown Mental Health Cener at Wishard Health Services

Alan D Schmetzer, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, American College of Physician Executives, American Medical Association, American Neuropsychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association, and Association for Convulsive Therapy

Disclosure: Eli Lilly & Co. Grant/research funds Other

Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Medscape Salary Employment

Harold H Harsch, MD  Program Director of Geropsychiatry, Department of Geriatrics/Gerontology, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medicine, Froedtert Hospital, Medical College of Wisconsin

Harold H Harsch, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Psychiatric Association

Disclosure: lilly Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Forest Labs None None; Pfizer Grant/research funds Speaking and teaching; Northstar None None; Novartis Grant/research funds research; Pfizer Honoraria Speaking and teaching; Sunovion Speaking and teaching; Otsuke Grant/research funds reseach; GlaxoSmithKline Grant/research funds research; Merck Honoraria Speaking and teaching

Chief Editor

Eduardo Dunayevich, MD  Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati; Clinical Research Physician, Neuroscience, Lilly Research Laboratories

Eduardo Dunayevich, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Psychiatric Association

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Acknowledgments

The authors and editors of eMedicine gratefully acknowledge the contributions of previous author Can M Savasman, MD to the development and writing of this article.

References

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