Matricide and bipolar disorder

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Matricide is the killing of one's own mother, and a type of homicide rarely seen on psychiatric practice. Matricide cases studies have shown the presence of mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, personality disorders and alcoholism, and have also found cases where there is no evidence of mental disorders. OBJECTIVE: We aim to report a case of a woman with bipolar disorder that murdered her own mother and had a psychiatric forensic evaluation to ascertain her penal imputability. METHODS: Psychiatric interview was carried out and the psychiatric diagnosis was established based on the interview and analysis of forensic and hospitalar records, using the DSM-IV-TR criteria. RESULTS: The examinee was considered not guilty by reason of insanity, due to the presence of a mental disorder that affected her entire understanding and determination of the practiced delict. She has been under inpatient forensic psychiatric care for two years. DISCUSSION: It is important that psychiatrists and other mental health professionals be alert to the risk of violent behavior in patients that present a long history of mental disorder and present episodes of violence during the acute phase, or threats against relatives and friends, or the lack of regular psychiatric treatment.