It is also sometimes called nonsense syndrome, balderdash syndrome, syndrome of approximate answers, pseudodementia, hysterical pseudodementia or prison psychosis.

This last name, prison psychosis, is sometimes used because the syndrome occurs most frequently in prison inmates, where it may represent an attempt to gain leniency from prison or court officials.

When "On the Road" appeared in 1957, a reviewer in Time magazine diagnosed Kerouac's hero as suffering from "a prison psychosis that is a variety of the Ganser syndrome," according to which "the patient exaggerates his mood and feelings; he 'lets himself go' and gets himself into highly emotional states."