Delusions of Poisoning

Abstract

A study of the case notes of 101 patients at Broadmoor Hospital yielded 89 with a past history of psychosis, of whom 14 had suffered delusions of poisoning. In all but one the symptom seemed an important antecedent factor to serious violence, the imagined poisoner almost always being one of the victims. The possible aetiology and the predictive importance of the symptom are discussed.