Severe Burns and Amputation of Both Arms in the First Psychotic Episode of a Schizophrenic Patient.

An alleged reduction of sensitivity to pain in people with schizophrenia has been reported, but the nature of this complex phenomenon has not been elucidated yet. Reports of insensitivity to burns from people with schizophrenia are extremely rare. We report the case of a 24-year-old man who set both of his arms on fire during the first break of paranoid schizophrenia. As a result of severe tissue damage, both of his limbs had to be amputated. Today, at the age of 59, the patient is physically and mentally rehabilitated and is adherent to treatment. Additionally, given the uncertainty about the true nature of the alleged hypoalgesia in schizophrenia, we postulate the need for a comprehensive phenomenological approach in the study of embodiment in people with this condition.

Delusiones de cambio de sexo, transexualismo y esquizofrenia: a propósito de un caso / Delusions of sexual change, transsexualism and schizophrenia: apropos of a case

Una importante proporción de personas con esquizofrenia experimenta delusiones de contenido sexual en algún momento del curso de su enfermedad; incluso, algunos pacientes pueden llegar a la convicción de que pertenecen a un sexo distinto del que poseen. Esto puede llevar a un diagnóstico inapropiado de transexualismo y eventualmente a procedimientos hormonales o quirúrgicos innecesarios. A partir del caso de una paciente con esquizofrenia y delusión de cambio de sexo revisamos la literatura pertinente en donde se evidencia la rareza de una real comorbilidad entre transexualismo y esquizofrenia aunque permanece pendiente profundizar en la compleja situación de la sexualidad de nuestros pacientes con esquizofrenia.

A significant number of people with schizophrenia experiences delusions of sexual content at some point in the course of their disease; moreover, some patients may be convinced that they belong to a different sex from their own. This can lead to inappropriate diagnosis of transsexualism and eventually unnecessary hormonal or surgical procedures. Taking the case of a patient with schizophrenia and delusion sex change as a starting point, we review and discuss relevant literature, where we find a real rarity of comorbidity between transsexualism and schizophrenia. However, the complex situation of the sexuality of our patients with schizophrenia remains pending of further study.