DR. JOHN'S CASE NOTES............................. Bridge players never fail to amaze me, such is their capacity to encounter a multitude of rare and unusual disorders. Not so long ago I had a client who suffered from CAPGRAS DELUSION. This particular disorder affects only inferior players. After a prolonged period of poor scores and a rapidly growing inferiority complexes, they suddenly take on a delusional belief that they are in fact technically more skilled and gifted at the game than their more illustrious partners. The delusion involves victims projecting all their failings onto partners, but taking in return all their expertise and know-how. Some psychoanalysts have queried whether this disoreder is no more than a peculiar form of schizophrenia. However, what we do know is that the victim's true-self simply crosses over the table to be temporarily relocated in the body of their partner.......and the void that was left behind is quickly filled by inventing a new-self, often in the likeness of their partner, with all his/her strengths and abilities. But one disturbing factor of this delusion is that nothing seems to stop them entering this fantasy world of escape and role-reversal. The pain and suffering, that once stemmed from the guilt and shame of their incompetence, are feelings well and truly confined to the past. This disorder is simply a defensive mechanism that enables them to transfer blame far more effectively than any other known strategy. However, there is still some debate on whether the disorder is real, being no more than a calculated ploy to avoid ever being named, blamed and shamed again. Whatever the outcome of this debate, it's nice to know that this rather strange disorder was, according to the script writers, the inspiration behind that marvellous comic movie " Trading Places".