Ganser syndrome

[Oralee]

[Ganser syndrome] is a rare dissociative disorder characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions and other dissociative symptoms such as [fugue], amnesia or conversion disorder, often with visual pseudo-hallucinations and a decreased state of consciousness. The syndrome has also been called nonsense syndrome, balderdash syndrome, syndrome of approximate answers, hysterical pseudodementia or prison psychosis. The term prison psychosis is sometimes used because the syndrome occurs most frequently in prison inmates, where it may be seen as an attempt to gain [leniency] from prison or court officials. Psychological symptoms generally resemble the patients sense of mental illness rather than any recognized category. The syndrome may occur in persons with other mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depressive disorders, toxic states, paresis, alcohol use disorders and [factitious] disorders. Ganser syndrome can sometimes be diagnosed as merely [malingering], but it is more often defined as dissociative disorder.