Skip to main content

Delusion Definition and Types

Image
By

Delusion Definition and Types

A delusion is an unshakeable belief (we cannot change it with logical explanations or evidence) that is held on inadequate grounds (they do not have a valid explanation or evidence for their belief, and that is not a conventional belief that the person might be expected to hold given their educational, cultural, and religious background.  

Illusions are mostly but not always normal. Hallucinations are mostly but not always abnormal. But a delusion is something that is always abnormal. So, someone who believes to be possessed by the supernatural is not delusional because it’s a cultural common belief. In the west, many young girls become convinced that they need to be thin and take extreme measures, and their weight may reach life-threatening low levels and continue. And this is still not a delusion because they consider thinness socially desirable and they educate most people about the risks of obesity is dangerous and the need for thinness.

Persecutory delusions are the most common ones, in which they develop a belief that someone wants to harm them.

Common Types of Delusions


A delusion may be primary or secondary. Primary delusions occur out of the blue, unexplainable by the patient's morbid experiences at the time. Secondary delusions arise occur against a background. For example, a patient with mania and grandiosity develops grandiose delusions. 

A delusional disorder is characterised by a single delusion or delusional system that persists for at least three months. Most of the time, these are persecutory delusions; delusions of jealousy, Foli a deux or Fregoli delusions may also occur.  In schizophrenia, delusions are more likely to be bizarre, primary, multiple and non-systematized. Grandiose delusion is more characteristic of mania. Patients with depression often have cotard delusions, delusions of poverty or hypochondriacal delusions. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Your Thoughts?

Popular posts from this blog

ADVOKATE: A Mnemonic Tool for the Assessment of Eyewitness Evidence

By
ADVOKATE: A Mnemonic Tool for Assessment of Eyewitness Evidence A tool for assessing eyewitness  ADVOKATE is a tool designed to assess eyewitness evidence and how much it is reliable. It requires the user to respond to several statements/questions. Forensic psychologists, police or investigative officer can do it. The mnemonic ADVOKATE stands for: A = amount of time under observation (event and act) D = distance from suspect V = visibility (night-day, lighting) O = obstruction to the view of the witness K = known or seen before when and where (suspect) A = any special reason for remembering the subject T = time-lapse (how long has it been since witness saw suspect) E = error or material discrepancy between the description given first or any subsequent accounts by a witness.  Working with suspects (college.police.uk)
Post a Comment
Read more

ICD-11 Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa (6B80)

By
ICD-11 Criteria for Anorexia Nervosa (6B80) Anorexia Nervosa is characterised by significantly low body weight for the individual’s height, age and developmental stage that is not due to another health condition or to the unavailability of food. A commonly used threshold is body mass index (BMI) less than 18.5 kg/m2 in adults and BMI-for-age under 5th percentile in children and adolescents. Rapid weight loss (e.g. more than 20% of total body weight within 6 months) may replace the low body weight guideline as long as other diagnostic requirements are met. Children and adolescents may exhibit failure to gain weight as expected based on the individual developmental trajectory rather than weight loss. Low body weight is accompanied by a persistent pattern of behaviours to prevent restoration of normal weight, which may include behaviours aimed at reducing energy intake (restricted eating), purging behaviours (e.g. self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives), and behaviours aimed at incr
Post a Comment
Read more

ICD-11 Criteria for Depression (Recurrent Depressive Disorder) 6A71

By
ICD-11 Criteria for Depression (Recurrent Depressive Disorder) 6A71 Recurrent depressive disorder is characterised by a history or at least two depressive episodes separated by at least several months without significant mood disturbance. A depressive episode is characterised by a period of depressed mood or diminished interest in activities occurring most of the day, nearly every day during a period lasting at least two weeks accompanied by other symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt, hopelessness, recurrent thoughts of death or suicide, changes in appetite or sleep, psychomotor agitation or retardation, and reduced energy or fatigue. There have never been any prior manic, hypomanic, or mixed episodes, which would indicate the presence of a Bipolar disorder. Inclusions:                Seasonal depressive disorder Exclusions:               Adjustment disorder (6B43) Bipolar or related disorders (BlockL2‑6A6) Sing
Post a Comment
Read more