Citation

Valença AM, de Almeida LR, de Oliveira GC, França MF, da Silva AG, Telles LB, Nardi AE. Front. Psychiatry 2023; 14: e1240385.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1240385

PMID

37706037

PMCID

PMC10495561

Abstract

Matricide is the murder of a mother by her son or daughter, a form of homicide rarely seen in psychiatric practice. A narrative review was conducted on the relationship between matricide and schizophrenia, followed by a case report in Brazil of a schizophrenic patient who murdered his mother and was submitted to forensic psychiatric assessment for criminal liability. The article discusses psychopathological, psychodynamic, and forensic aspects related to the case. The observation of ambivalent and conflictive relations between schizophrenic individuals and their mothers suggests the need for family-level interventions to resolve the understandable occurrence of emotional conflicts, which can serve as stimuli that trigger the murder.

Language: en

Keywords

homicide; psychosis; schizophrenia; forensic – psychiatric practice; matricide; mental disorder; violence