Revision as of 20:36, 15 October 2010 editDoug Weller (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Autopatrolled, Oversighters, Administrators264,006 editsm Reverted edits by 199.60.104.18 (talk) to last version by Moloch09← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 23:16, 31 December 2024 edit undoMathKeduor7 (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users1,165 editsNo edit summary | ||
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
{{Short description|Fixation of holding false beliefs}} | |||
{{Other uses}} | |||
{{See also|Delusional disorder}} | {{See also|Delusional disorder}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} | |||
{{Infobox disease | |||
{{Infobox medical condition (new) | |||
| Name = Delusion | |||
| |
|name = Delusion | ||
| |
|synonym = | ||
| |
|image = | ||
|image_size = | |||
|alt = | |||
|caption = | |||
|pronounce = | |||
|specialty = ] | |||
|symptoms = | |||
|complications = | |||
|onset = | |||
|duration = | |||
|types = | |||
|causes = | |||
|risks = | |||
|diagnosis = | |||
|differential = | |||
|prevention = | |||
|treatment = | |||
|medication = | |||
|prognosis = | |||
|frequency = | |||
|deaths = | |||
}} | }} | ||
A '''delusion''' is a fixed ] that is either false, fanciful, or derived from ]. In ], it is defined to be a belief that is ] (the result of an ] or illness process) and is held despite evidence to the contrary. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, ], ], ], ], or other effects of ]. | |||
A '''delusion'''{{Efn|From ] ''delusio'' {{lit|deceiving}}, from ''deludere'' {{gloss|to mock, to deceive}}<ref>{{OEtymD|delusion}}</ref>}} is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence.<ref name=Delusions_in_dsm5>{{cite web|url=http://imperfectcognitions.blogspot.com/2013/06/delusions-in-dsm-5.html|title=Delusions in the DSM 5|date=7 June 2013|website=Imperfect Cognitions| vauthors = Bortolotti L |author-link=Lisa Bortolotti}}</ref> As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, ], ], ], ], or some other misleading effects of ], as individuals with those beliefs ''are'' able to change or readjust their beliefs upon reviewing the evidence. However: | |||
Delusions typically occur in the context of neurological or ], although they are not tied to any particular disease and have been found to occur in the context of many pathological states (both physical and mental). However, they are of particular diagnostic importance in ] disorders and particularly in ], ], ] episodes of ], and ]. | |||
"The distinction between a delusion and a strongly held idea is sometimes difficult to make and depends in part on the degree of conviction with which the belief is held despite clear or reasonable contradictory evidence regarding its veracity."<ref name=Delusions_in_dsm5/> | |||
==Definition== | |||
Although non-specific concepts of madness have been around for several thousand years, the psychiatrist and philosopher ] was the first to define the three main criteria for a belief to be considered delusional in his 1917 book ''General Psychopathology''. These criteria are: | |||
* certainty (held with absolute conviction) | |||
* incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary) | |||
* impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre or patently untrue) | |||
Delusions have been found to occur in the context of many pathological states (both general physical and mental) and are of particular diagnostic importance in ] disorders including ], ], ] episodes of ],<ref>{{cite journal | last=Dunayevich | first=Eduardo | last2=Keck | first2=Paul E. | title=Prevalence and description of psychotic features in bipolar mania | journal=] | volume=2 | issue=4 | date=2000 | issn=1523-3812 | doi=10.1007/s11920-000-0069-4 | pages=286–290}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergen |first=Annet H. van |last2=Verkooijen |first2=Sanne |last3=Vreeker |first3=Annabel |last4=Abramovic |first4=Lucija |last5=Hillegers |first5=Manon H. |last6=Spijker |first6=Annet T. |last7=Hoencamp |first7=Erik |last8=Regeer |first8=Eline J. |last9=Knapen |first9=Stefan E. |last10=Lek |first10=Rixt F. Riemersma-van der |last11=Schoevers |first11=Robert |last12=Stevens |first12=Anja W. |last13=Schulte |first13=Peter F. J. |last14=Vonk |first14=Ronald |last15=Hoekstra |first15=Rocco |year=2019 |title=The characteristics of psychotic features in bipolar disorder |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/abs/characteristics-of-psychotic-features-in-bipolar-disorder/0B66A67B9F8629FCDD65420A389A3C37 |journal=] |language=en |volume=49 |issue=12 |pages=2036–2048 |doi=10.1017/S0033291718002854 |issn=0033-2917}}</ref> and ]. | |||
These criteria still continue in modern psychiatric diagnosis. The most recent ] defines a delusion as: | |||
==Types== | |||
:A false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everybody else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary. ''The belief is not one ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's ] or subculture''. | |||
Delusions are categorized into four different groups: | |||
* ''Bizarre delusion'': Delusions are deemed bizarre if they are clearly implausible and not understandable to same-culture peers and do not derive from ordinary life experiences.<ref>{{cite book|title=Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5|publisher=American Psychiatric Association|year=2013}}</ref> An example named by the ] is a belief that someone replaced all of one's internal organs with someone else's without leaving a scar, depending on the organ in question. | |||
There is controversy over this definition, as 'despite what almost everybody else believes' implies that a person who believes something most others do not is a candidate for delusional thought. Furthermore, it is ironic that, while the above three criteria are usually attributed to Jaspers, he himself described them as only 'vague' and merely 'external'.<ref>{{harvnb|Jaspers|1997|p=95}}</ref> He also wrote that, since the genuine or 'internal' 'criteria for delusion proper lie in the <em>primary experience of delusion</em> and in <em>the change of the personality</em> , we can see that a delusion may be correct in content without ceasing to be a delusion, for instance - that there is a world-war.'.<ref>{{harvnb|Jaspers|1997|p=106}}</ref> | |||
* ''Non-bizarre delusion'': A delusion that, though false, reflects real–life situations and is at least technically possible; it may include feelings of being followed, poisoned, infected etc.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chowdhury |first=Arabinda N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXKSDwAAQBAJ |title=Bedside Psychiatry |publisher=Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers |year=2019 |isbn=978-93-5270-985-4 |pages=102 |language=en}}</ref> e.g., the affected person mistakenly believes that they are under constant police surveillance. | |||
* ''Mood-congruent delusion'': Any delusion with content consistent with either a ] or ] state, e.g., a depressed person believes that news anchors on television highly disapprove of them, or a person in a manic state might believe they are a powerful deity. | |||
* ''Mood-neutral delusion'': A delusion that does not relate to the patient's emotional state; for example, a belief that an extra limb is growing out of the back of one's head is neutral to either depression or mania.<ref name="minddisorders.com">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Delusions |url=http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Delusions.html |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders |publisher=Advameg.com |access-date=2018-04-22}}</ref> | |||
French psychiatry (which is influenced by ]), however, also establishes a difference between "paranoid" (''paranoïde'') and "paranoiac" (''paranoïaque'') delusion.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Paranoïa (histoire du concept)|encyclopedia=Universalis|language=French|url=https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/paranoia-histoire-du-concept/2-la-structure-paranoiaque-des-delires/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Pirlot|first1=Gérard|last2=Cupa|first2=Dominique|date=2019|title=Approche psychanalytique des troubles psychiques|chapter=Chapitre 22. Psychoses passionnelles et délires paranoïaques|pages=218–243 |chapter-url=https://www.cairn.info/approche-psychanalytique-des-troubles-psychiques--9782100785421-page-218.htm|publisher=Dunod}}</ref> The ''paranoid delusion'', observed in ], is non-systematized and is characterized by a disorganized structure and confused speech and thoughts.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Paranoïde|encyclopedia=Larousse|url=https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/divers/parano%c3%afde/76810}}</ref> The ''paranoiac delusion'', observed in ], is highly systematized (which means it is very organized and clear) and is focused on a single theme. | |||
Furthermore, when a false belief involves a value judgment, it is only considered as a delusion if it is so extreme as to defy ]. Since the delusional conviction occurs on a continuum, it can be inferred from an individual's behavior many times. A delusion and an overvalued idea tend to confuse. The latter implies that the individual has a unreasonable belief or idea but does not hold it as firmly as when a delusion takes place.<ref name="A">{{cite web|url=http://www.abess.com/glossary.html#D |title=Terms in the Field of Psychiatry and Neurology |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
===Themes=== | |||
Delusions are not due to a medical condition or substance abuse and they may seem believable at face value. Also, patients usually appear normal as long as another person does not touch upon their delusional themes.<ref name="B">{{cite web|url=http://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/delusional-disorder |title=Delusional Disorder |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
In addition to these categories, delusions often manifest according to a consistent theme. Although delusions can have any theme, certain themes are more common. Some of the more common delusion themes are: | |||
* '']'': False belief that another person, group of people, or external force controls one's general thoughts, feelings, impulses, or behaviors.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']'': False belief that a spouse or lover is having an affair, with no proof to back up the claim.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']'': Ungrounded feeling of remorse or guilt of delusional intensity.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']:'' False belief that other people can know one's thoughts.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']'': Belief that another thinks through the mind of the person.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']s:'' False belief that one is being persecuted. | |||
* '']'': False belief that insignificant remarks, events, or objects in one's environment have personal meaning or significance. "Usually the meaning assigned to these events is negative, but the 'messages' can also have a grandiose quality."<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']'': False belief that another person is in love with them.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> | |||
* '']'': Belief that the affected person is a god or chosen to act as a god.<ref name=ReligiousDelusion1>{{cite web|title=Religious delusions are common symptoms of schizophrenia.|url=http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=51361|access-date=17 April 2011|archive-date=22 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222182646/http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=51361|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=ReligiousDelusion2>{{cite web| vauthors = Raja M, Azzoni A, Lubich L |title=Religious delusion |url=http://www.sanp.ch/pdf/2000/2000-01/2000-01-058.PDF |access-date=17 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322210939/http://www.sanp.ch/pdf/2000/2000-01/2000-01-058.PDF |archive-date=22 March 2012 }}</ref> | |||
* '']'': Delusion whose content pertains to bodily functioning, bodily sensations or physical appearance. Usually the false belief is that the body is somehow diseased, abnormal or changed.<ref name="minddisorders.com" /> A specific example of this delusion is ]: Delusion in which one feels infested with insects, bacteria, mites, spiders, lice, fleas, worms, or other organisms. | |||
* ''Delusion of poverty'': Person strongly believes they are financially incapacitated. Although this type of delusion is less common now, it was particularly widespread in the days preceding state support.<ref>Barker, p.. 1997. Assessment in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing in Search of the Whole Person. UK: Nelson Thornes Ltd. p. 241.</ref> | |||
<!-- removed cn-tag because both two sentences are fully supported by this source. | |||
* ''Gender delusion'': Person strongly believes not being of the same gender as their biological body. Affected individuals sometimes refer to themselves being of demi-genders. --> | |||
===Grandiose delusions=== | |||
] or delusions of grandeur are principally a subtype of ] but could possibly feature as a symptom of ] and ] episodes of ].<ref name="DSM-IV-TR">] Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) ] (2000)</ref> Grandiose delusions are characterized by fantastical beliefs that one is famous, ] or otherwise very powerful. The delusions are generally fantastic, often with a ], ]al, or ] bent. In colloquial usage, one who overestimates one's own abilities, talents, stature or situation is sometimes said to have "delusions of grandeur". This is generally due to excessive ], rather than any actual delusions. Grandiose delusions or delusions of grandeur can also be associated with megalomania.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Kunert HJ, Norra C, Hoff P |title = Theories of delusional disorders. An update and review |journal = Psychopathology |volume = 40 |issue = 3 |pages = 191–202 |date = March 2007 |pmid = 17337940 |doi = 10.1159/000100367 |doi-access = free }}</ref> | |||
===Persecutory delusions=== | |||
Delusions are not tied to any particular disease and they usually occur in the context of neurological or mental illness. Also, they have been found to occur in the context of many pathological states.<ref name="C">{{cite web|url=http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Delusion |title=Delusion – Definition |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
{{main|Persecutory delusion}} | |||
Persecutory delusions are the most common type of delusions and involve the theme of being followed, harassed, cheated, poisoned or drugged, conspired against, spied on, attacked, or otherwise obstructed in the pursuit of goals. | |||
Persecutory delusions are a condition in which the affected person wrongly believes that they are being ]. Specifically, they have been defined as containing two central elements:<ref name="FreemanGarety2004">{{cite book | vauthors = Freeman D, Garety PA | date = 2004 | title = Paranoia: The Psychology of Persecutory Delusions. | location = Hove | publisher = PsychoIogy Press | isbn = 1-84169-522-X}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=November 2010}} The individual thinks that: | |||
* harm is occurring, or is going to occur | |||
* the persecutors have the intention to cause harm | |||
According to the '']'', persecutory delusions are the most common form of delusions in ], where the person believes they are "being tormented, followed, sabotaged, tricked, spied on, or ridiculed".<ref>{{cite book|title=Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV|publisher=American Psychiatric Association|location=Washington, DC|year=2000|page=299|isbn=0-89042-025-4}}</ref> In the ''DSM-IV-TR'', persecutory delusions are the main feature of the persecutory type of delusional disorder. When the focus is to remedy some injustice by legal action, they are sometimes called "]".<ref>{{cite book|title=Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV|publisher=American Psychiatric Association|location=Washington, DC|year=2000|page=325|isbn=0-89042-025-4}}</ref> | |||
==Types== | |||
Delusions are categorized into four different groups: | |||
==Causes== | |||
* '''Bizarre delusion:''' A delusion that is very strange and completely implausible; an example of a bizarre delusion would be that aliens have removed the affected person's brain. | |||
{{See also|Psychosis#Causes|l1=Psychosis (causes)}} | |||
* '''Non-bizarre delusion:''' A delusion that, though false, is at least possible, e.g., the affected person mistakenly believes they are under constant police surveillance. | |||
Explaining the causes of delusions continues to be challenging and several theories have been developed.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kiran C, Chaudhury S | title = Understanding delusions | journal = Industrial Psychiatry Journal | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | pages = 3–18 | date = January 2009 | pmid = 21234155 | pmc = 3016695 | doi = 10.4103/0972-6748.57851 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McKenna |first=Peter |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781139871785/type/book |title=Delusions: Understanding the Un-understandable |date=2017-07-25 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-87178-5 |edition=1 |doi=10.1017/9781139871785}}</ref> One is the ] or biological theory, which states that close relatives of people with delusional disorder are at increased risk of delusional traits. Another theory is the dysfunctional cognitive processing, which states that delusions may arise from distorted ways people have of explaining life to themselves. A third theory is called motivated or defensive delusions. This one states that some of those persons who are predisposed might experience the onset of delusional disorder in those moments when coping with life and maintaining high ] becomes a significant challenge. In this case, the person views others as the cause of their personal difficulties in order to preserve a positive self-view.<ref name="H">{{cite web|url=http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Delusional-disorder.html |title=Delusional Disorder |access-date=6 August 2010}}</ref> | |||
* '''Mood-congruent delusion:''' Any delusion with content consistent with either a depressive or manic state, e.g., a depressed person believes that news anchors on television highly disapprove them, or a person in a manic state might believe they are a powerful deity. | |||
* '''Mood-neutral delusion:''' A delusion that does not relate to the sufferer's emotional state; for example, a belief that an extra limb is growing out of the back of one's head is neutral to either depression or mania.<ref name="minddisorders.com">Source: http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Delusions.html</ref> | |||
This condition is more common among people who have poor ] or ]. Also, ongoing stressors have been associated with a higher possibility of developing delusions. Examples of such stressors are ], low socioeconomic status, and even possibly the accumulation of smaller daily struggles.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kingston C, Schuurmans-Stekhoven J | title = Life hassles and delusional ideation: Scoping the potential role of cognitive and affective mediators | journal = Psychology and Psychotherapy | volume = 89 | issue = 4 | pages = 445–463 | date = December 2016 | pmid = 26846698 | doi = 10.1111/papt.12089 }}</ref> | |||
In addition to these categories, delusions often manifest according to a consistent theme. Although delusions can have any theme, certain themes are more common. Some of the more common delusion themes are <ref name="minddisorders.com" />: | |||
*'''Delusion of control''': This is a false belief that another person, group of people, or external force controls one's thoughts, feelings, impulses, or behavior. A person may describe, for instance, the experience that aliens actually make them move in certain ways, and that the person affected has no control over these bodily movements. ] (the false belief that the affected person's thoughts are heard aloud), ], and ] (the belief that an outside force, person, or group of people is removing or extracting a person's thoughts) are also examples of delusions of control. | |||
*''']''': A delusion whose theme centres on the nonexistence of self or parts of self, others, or the world. A person with this type of delusion may have the false belief that the world is ending. | |||
*''']''': A person with this delusion falsely believes their spouse or lover is having an affair. This delusion stems from pathological jealousy, and the person often gathers "evidence" and confronts the spouse about the nonexistent affair. | |||
*'''Delusion of guilt or sin (or delusion of self-accusation)''': This is a false feeling of remorse or guilt of delusional intensity. A person may, for example, believe he has committed some horrible crime and should be punished severely. Another example is a person who is convinced he is responsible for some disaster (such as fire, flood, or earthquake) with which there can be no possible connection. | |||
*'''Delusion of mind being read''': The false belief that other people can know one's thoughts. This is different from thought broadcasting, in that the person does not believe their thoughts are heard aloud. | |||
*''']''': The person falsely believes that insignificant remarks, events, or objects in one's environment have personal meaning or significance. For instance, a person may believe they are receiving special messages from newspaper headlines. | |||
*''']''' is a delusion where someone believes another person is in love with them. They believe this other person declared love first, often by special glances, signals, telepathy, or messages through the media. | |||
*''']''': An individual is convinced they have special powers, talents, or abilities. Sometimes, the individual may actually believe they are a famous person or character (for example, a rock star). More commonly, a person with this delusion may believe they have accomplished some great achievement for which they have not received sufficient recognition (for example, the discovery of a new scientific theory). Often, this type of person believes they have uncovered an obvious "truth" that has escaped the entire history of humankind. | |||
*''']''': These are the most common type of delusions and involve the theme of being followed, harassed, cheated, poisoned or drugged, conspired against, spied on, attacked, or obstructed in the pursuit of goals. Sometimes the delusion is isolated and fragmented (such as the false belief that co-workers are harassing), but sometimes are well-organized belief systems involving a complex set of delusions ("systematized delusions"). People with a set of persecutory delusions may believe, for example, they are being followed by government organizations because the "persecuted" person has been falsely identified as a spy. These systems of beliefs can be so broad and complex that they can explain everything that happens to the person. | |||
*'''Religious delusion''': Any delusion with a religious or spiritual content. These may be combined with other delusions, such as grandiose delusions (the belief that the affected person is a god, or chosen to act as a god, for example). | |||
*'''Somatic delusion''': A delusion whose content pertains to bodily functioning, bodily sensations, or physical appearance. Usually the false belief is that the body is somehow diseased, abnormal, or changed—for example, infested with parasites. | |||
*'''Delusions of parasitosis (DOP) or delusional parasitosis''': The person believes that they are infested with an ], ], ], ], ], ], ], or other organisms. They may also report being repeatedly bitten. In some cases, ] are asked to investigate cases of mysterious bites. Sometimes physical manifestations may occur including ].<ref name="D">{{cite web|url=http://www.livingwithbugs.com/del_pho.html |title=Difference between delusion and phobia |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
===Specific delusions=== | |||
==Diagnosis== | |||
The top two factors mainly concerned in the germination of delusions are disorder of brain functioning and background influences of temperament and personality.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Sims A |title=Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive psychopathology |publisher=W. B. Saunders |location=Philadelphia |year=2002 |pages=127 |isbn=0-7020-2627-1 }}</ref> | |||
] called an "air loom," which Matthews believed was being used to torture him and others for political purposes.]] | |||
The modern definition and Jaspers' original criteria have been criticised, as counter-examples can be shown for every defining feature. | |||
Higher levels of dopamine qualify as a sign of disorders of brain function. That they are needed to sustain certain delusions was examined by a preliminary study on delusional disorder (a psychotic syndrome) instigated to clarify if schizophrenia had a dopamine psychosis.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Morimoto K, Miyatake R, Nakamura M, Watanabe T, Hirao T, Suwaki H | title = Delusional disorder: molecular genetic evidence for dopamine psychosis | journal = Neuropsychopharmacology | volume = 26 | issue = 6 | pages = 794–801 | date = June 2002 | pmid = 12007750 | doi = 10.1016/S0893-133X(01)00421-3 | doi-access = free }}</ref> There were positive results - delusions of jealousy and persecution had different levels of dopamine metabolite ] and ] (which may have been genetic). These can be only regarded as tentative results; the study called for future research with a larger population. | |||
Studies on psychiatric patients show that delusions vary in intensity and conviction over time, which suggests that certainty and incorrigibility are not necessary components of a delusional belief.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Myin-Germeys I, Nicolson NA, Delespaul PA |title=The context of delusional experiences in the daily life of patients with schizophrenia |journal=Psychol Med |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=489–98 |year=2001 |month=April |pmid=11305857 }}</ref> | |||
It is simplistic to say that a certain measure of dopamine will bring about a specific delusion. Studies show age<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mazure CM, Bowers MB | title = Pretreatment plasma HVA predicts neuroleptic response in manic psychosis | journal = Journal of Affective Disorders | volume = 48 | issue = 1 | pages = 83–86 | date = February 1998 | pmid = 9495606 | doi = 10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00159-6 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yamada N, Nakajima S, Noguchi T | title = Age at onset of delusional disorder is dependent on the delusional theme | journal = Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | volume = 97 | issue = 2 | pages = 122–124 | date = February 1998 | pmid = 9517905 | doi = 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb09973.x | s2cid = 39266698 }}</ref> and gender to be influential and it is most likely that HVA levels change during the life course of some syndromes.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tamplin A, Goodyer IM, Herbert J | title = Family functioning and parent general health in families of adolescents with major depressive disorder | journal = Journal of Affective Disorders | volume = 48 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–13 | date = February 1998 | pmid = 9495597 | doi = 10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00105-5 }}</ref> | |||
Delusions do not necessarily have to be false or 'incorrect inferences about external reality'.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0010-440X(90)90023-L |author=Spitzer M |title=On defining delusions |journal=Compr Psychiatry |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=377–97 |year=1990 |pmid=2225797 |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0010-440X(90)90023-L}}<br /></ref> Some religious or spiritual beliefs by their nature may not be falsifiable, and hence cannot be described as false or incorrect, no matter whether the person holding these beliefs was diagnosed as delusional or not.<ref>{{cite book |author=Young, A.W. |chapter=Wondrous strange: The neuropsychology of abnormal beliefs |editor=Coltheart M., Davis M. |title=Pathologies of belief |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |year=2000 |isbn=0-631-22136-0 |pages=47–74 }}</ref> | |||
On the influence of personality, it has been said: "Jaspers considered there is a subtle change in personality due to the illness itself; and this creates the condition for the development of the delusional atmosphere in which the delusional intuition arises."<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Sims A |title=Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive psychopathology |publisher=W. B. Saunders |location=Philadelphia |year=2002 |pages=128 |isbn=0-7020-2627-1 }}</ref> | |||
In other situations the delusion may turn out to be true belief.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Jones E |title=The phenomenology of abnormal belief |journal=Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology |volume=6 |pages=1–16 |year=1999 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_psychiatry_and_psychology/toc/ppp6.1.html}}</ref> For example, ], where a person believes that their partner is being unfaithful (and may even follow them into the bathroom believing them to be seeing their lover even during the briefest of partings) may result in the faithful partner being driven to infidelity by the constant and unreasonable strain put on them by their delusional spouse. In this case the delusion does not cease to be a delusion because the content later turns out to be true. | |||
Cultural factors have "a decisive influence in shaping delusions".<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Draguns JG, Tanaka-Matsumi J | title = Assessment of psychopathology across and within cultures: issues and findings | journal = Behaviour Research and Therapy | volume = 41 | issue = 7 | pages = 755–776 | date = July 2003 | pmid = 12781244 | doi = 10.1016/S0005-7967(02)00190-0 }}</ref> For example, delusions of guilt and punishment are frequent in a Western, Christian country like Austria, but not in Pakistan, where it is more likely persecution.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stompe T, Friedman A, Ortwein G, Strobl R, Chaudhry HR, Najam N, Chaudhry MR | title = Comparison of delusions among schizophrenics in Austria and in Pakistan | journal = Psychopathology | volume = 32 | issue = 5 | pages = 225–234 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10494061 | doi = 10.1159/000029094 | s2cid = 25376490 }}</ref> Similarly, in a series of case studies, delusions of guilt and punishment were found in Austrian patients with Parkinson's being treated with l-dopa, a dopamine agonist.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Birkmayer W, Danielczyk W, Neumayer E, Riederer P | title = The balance of biogenic amines as condition for normal behaviour | journal = Journal of Neural Transmission | volume = 33 | issue = 2 | pages = 163–178 | year = 1972 | pmid = 4643007 | doi = 10.1007/BF01260902 | s2cid = 28152591 }}</ref> | |||
In other cases, the delusion may be assumed to be false by a doctor or psychiatrist assessing the belief, because it ''seems'' to be unlikely, bizarre or held with excessive conviction. Psychiatrists rarely have the time or resources to check the validity of a person’s claims leading to some true beliefs to be erroneously classified as delusional.<ref>{{cite book |author=Maher B.A. |chapter=Anomalous experience and delusional thinking: The logic of explanations |editor=Oltmanns T., Maher B. |title=Delusional Beliefs |publisher=Wiley Interscience |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=0-471-83635-4 }}</ref> This is known as the ], after the wife of the ] who alleged that illegal activity was taking place in the ]. At the time her claims were thought to be signs of mental illness, and only after the ] broke was she proved right (and hence sane). | |||
==Pathophysiology== | |||
Similar factors have led to criticisms of Jaspers' definition of true delusions as being ultimately 'un-understandable'. Critics (such as ]) have argued that this leads to the diagnosis of delusions being based on the ] understanding of a particular psychiatrist, who may not have access to all the information that might make a belief otherwise interpretable. R.D. Laing's hypothesis has been applied to some forms of projective therapy to "fix" a delusional system so that it cannot be altered by the patient. Psychiatric researchers at ], ] and the Community Mental Health Center of Middle Georgia have used novels and motion picture films as the focus. Texts, plots and cinematography are discussed and the delusions approached tangentially.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Giannini AJ |title=Use of fiction in therapy |journal=Psychiatric Times |volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=56 |year=2001 }}</ref>. This use of fiction to decrease the malleability of a delusion was employed in a joint project by science-fiction author ] and Yale psychiatrist A. James Giannini. They wrote the novel '']'', which, recursively, deals with delusional adolescents who are treated with a form of projective therapy. In this novel's fictional setting other novels written by Farmer are discussed and the characters are symbolically integrated into the delusions of fictional patients.This particular novel was then applied to real-life clinical settings.<ref>AJ Giannini. Afterword. (in) PJ Farmer. Red Orc's Rage.NY, Tor Books, 1991, pp.279-282.</ref> | |||
The two-factor model of delusions posits that dysfunction in both belief formation systems and belief evaluation systems are necessary for delusions. Dysfunction in evaluations systems localized to the right lateral prefrontal cortex, regardless of delusion content, is supported by neuroimaging studies and is congruent with its role in conflict monitoring in healthy persons. Abnormal activation and reduced volume is seen in people with delusions, as well as in disorders associated with delusions such as ], ] and ]. Furthermore, lesions to this region are associated with "jumping to conclusions", damage to this region is associated with post-stroke delusions, and hypometabolism this region associated with caudate strokes presenting with delusions.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} | |||
The ] model suggests that delusions are a result of people assigning excessive importance to irrelevant stimuli. In support of this hypothesis, regions normally associated with the ] demonstrate reduced grey matter in people with delusions, and the neurotransmitter ], which is widely implicated in salience processing, is also widely implicated in psychotic disorders.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} | |||
Another difficulty with the diagnosis of delusions is that almost all of these features can be found in "normal" beliefs. Many religious beliefs hold exactly the same features, yet are not universally considered delusional. These factors have led the psychiatrist ] to note that "there is no acceptable (rather than accepted) definition of a delusion."<ref>{{cite journal |author=David AS |title=On the impossibility of defining delusions |journal=Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=17–20 |year=1999 }}</ref> In practice psychiatrists tend to diagnose a belief as delusional if it is either patently bizarre, causing significant distress, or excessively pre-occupies the patient, especially if the person is subsequently unswayed in belief by counter-evidence or reasonable arguments. | |||
Specific regions have been associated with specific types of delusions. The volume of the hippocampus and parahippocampus is related to paranoid delusions in ], and has been reported to be abnormal post mortem in one person with delusions. ]s have been associated with occipito-temporal damage and may be related to failure to elicit normal emotions or memories in response to faces.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Naasan G | veditors = Lehner T, Miller B, State M |title=Genomics, Circuits, and Pathways in Clinical Neuropsychiatry|publisher=Elsevier Science|pages=366–369|chapter=The Anatomy of Delusions}}</ref> | |||
It is important to distinguish true delusions from other symptoms such as ], ], or ]. To diagnose delusions a mental state examination may be used. This test includes ], ], affect, ], rate and continuity of speech,evidence of hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, thought content, orientation to time, place and person, attention and ], inside and judgment, as well as short-term ].<ref name="E">{{cite web|url=http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/delusions/tests.htm |title=Diagnostic Test List for Delusions |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
==Diagnosis== | |||
Johnson-Laird suggests that delusions may be viewed as the natural consequence of failure to distinguish conceptual relevance. That is, the person takes irrelevant information and puts it in the form of disconnected experiences, then it is taken to be relevant in a manner that suggests false causal connections. Furthermore, the person takes the relevant information, in the form of counterexamples, and ignores it.<ref name="F">{{cite web|url=http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/13/3/403-a |title=A New Definition of Delusional Ideation in Terms of Model Restriction|date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
] illustrated this picture of a machine called an "air loom", which he believed was being used to torture him and others for political purposes.]] | |||
The modern definition and Jaspers' original criteria have been criticised, as counter-examples can be shown for every defining feature. | |||
Studies on ] show that delusions vary in intensity and conviction over time, which suggests that certainty and incorrigibility are not necessary components of a delusional belief.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Myin-Germeys I, Nicolson NA, Delespaul PA | title = The context of delusional experiences in the daily life of patients with schizophrenia | journal = Psychological Medicine | volume = 31 | issue = 3 | pages = 489–498 | date = April 2001 | pmid = 11305857 | doi = 10.1017/s0033291701003646 | s2cid = 25884819 }}</ref> | |||
== Development of specific delusions == | |||
The top two 'Factors mainly concerned in the germination of delusions' are:1. Disorder of brain functioning and 2. background influences of temperament and personality.<ref>{{cite book |author=Sims, Andrew |title=Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive psychopathology |publisher=W. B. Saunders |location=Philadelphia |year=2002 |pages=127 |isbn=0-7020-2627-1 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> | |||
Delusions do not necessarily have to be false or 'incorrect inferences about external reality'.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Spitzer M | title = On defining delusions | journal = Comprehensive Psychiatry | volume = 31 | issue = 5 | pages = 377–397 | year = 1990 | pmid = 2225797 | doi = 10.1016/0010-440X(90)90023-L }}<br /></ref> Some religious or spiritual beliefs by their nature may not be falsifiable, and hence cannot be described as false or incorrect, no matter whether the person holding these beliefs was diagnosed as delusional or not.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Young AW |chapter=Wondrous strange: The neuropsychology of abnormal beliefs |editor1=Coltheart M. |editor2=Davis M. |title=Pathologies of belief |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |year=2000 |isbn=0-631-22136-0 |pages=47–74 }}</ref> | |||
Higher levels of dopamine qualify as a symptom of 'disorders of brain function'. That they are needed to sustain certain delusions was examined by a preliminary study on delusional disorder (a psychotic syndrome), instigated to clarify if schizophrenia had a dopamine psychosis.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Morimoto K, Miyatake R, Nakamura M, Watanabe T, Hirao T, Suwaki H |title=Delusional disorder: molecular genetic evidence for dopamine psychosis |journal=Neuropsychopharmacology |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=794–801 |year=2002 |month=June |pmid=12007750 |doi=10.1016/S0893-133X(01)00421-3 |url=http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v26/n6/full/1395864a.html}}</ref> There were positive results - delusions of jealousy and persecution had different levels of dopamine metabolite ] (which may have been genetic). These can be only regarded as tentative results; the study called for future research with a larger population. | |||
In other situations the delusion may turn out to be true belief.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jones E |title=The phenomenology of abnormal belief |journal=Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology |volume=6 |pages=1–16 |year=1999 |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_psychiatry_and_psychology/toc/ppp6.1.html}}</ref> For example, in ], where a person believes that their partner is being unfaithful (and may even follow them into the bathroom believing them to be seeing their lover even during the briefest of partings), it may actually be true that the partner is having sexual relations with another person. In this case, the delusion does not cease to be a delusion because the content later turns out to be verified as true or the partner actually chose to engage in the behavior of which they were being accused. | |||
In other cases, the belief may be mistakenly assumed to be false by a doctor or psychiatrist assessing it, just because it ''seems'' to be unlikely, bizarre or held with excessive conviction. Psychiatrists rarely have the time or resources to check the validity of a person's claims leading to some true beliefs to be erroneously classified as delusional.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Maher BA |chapter=Anomalous experience and delusional thinking: The logic of explanations |editor1=Oltmanns T. |editor2=Maher B. |title=Delusional Beliefs |publisher=Wiley Interscience |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=0-471-83635-4 }}</ref> This is known as the ], after the wife of the ] who alleged that illegal activity was taking place in the ]. At the time, her claims were thought to be signs of mental illness, and only after the ] broke was she proved right (and hence sane). | |||
It is too simplistic to say that a certain measure of dopamine will bring about a specific delusion. Studies show age<ref>{{cite journal |author=Mazure CM, Bowers MB |title=Pretreatment plasma HVA predicts neuroleptic response in manic psychosis |journal=Journal of Affective Disorders |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=83–6 |date=1 February 1998 |pmid=9495606 |doi=10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00159-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Yamada N, Nakajima S, Noguchi T |title=Age at onset of delusional disorder is dependent on the delusional theme |journal=Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=122–4 |year=1998 |month=February |pmid=9517905 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb09973.x }}</ref> and gender to be influential and it is most likely that HVA levels change during the life course of some syndromes.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Tamplin A, Goodyer IM, Herbert J |title=Family functioning and parent general health in families of adolescents with major depressive disorder |journal=Journal of Affective Disorders |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |date=1 February 1998 |pmid=9495597 |doi=10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00105-5}}</ref> | |||
Similar factors have led to criticisms of Jaspers' definition of true delusions as being ultimately 'un-understandable'. Critics (such as ]) have argued that this leads to the diagnosis of delusions being based on the ] understanding of a particular psychiatrist, who may not have access to all the information that might make a belief otherwise interpretable. R. D. Laing's hypothesis has been applied to some forms of projective therapy to "fix" a delusional system so that it cannot be altered by the patient. Psychiatric researchers at ], ] and the Community Mental Health Center of Middle Georgia have used novels and motion picture films as the focus. Texts, plots and cinematography are discussed and the delusions approached tangentially.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Giannini AJ |title=Use of fiction in therapy |journal=Psychiatric Times |volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=56 |year=2001 }}</ref> This use of fiction to decrease the malleability of a delusion was employed in a joint project by science-fiction author ] and Yale psychiatrist A. James Giannini. They wrote the novel '']'', which, recursively, deals with delusional adolescents who are treated with a form of projective therapy. In this novel's fictional setting other novels written by Farmer are discussed and the characters are symbolically integrated into the delusions of fictional patients. This particular novel was then applied to real-life clinical settings.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Giannini AJ | chapter = Afterword | veditors = Farmer PJ | title = Red Orc's Rage | location = NY | publisher = Tor Books | date = 1991 | pages = 279–282 }}</ref> | |||
On the influence personality, it has been said: "Jaspers considered there is a subtle change in personality due to the illness itself; and this creates the condition for the development of the delusional atmosphere in which the delusional intuition arises."<ref>{{cite book |author=Sims, Andrew |title=Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive psychopathology |publisher=W. B. Saunders |location=Philadelphia |year=2002 |pages=128 |isbn=0-7020-2627-1 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> | |||
Another difficulty with the diagnosis of delusions is that almost all of these features can be found in "normal" beliefs. Many religious beliefs hold exactly the same features, yet are not universally considered delusional. For instance, if a person was holding a true belief then they will of course persist with it. This can cause the disorder to be misdiagnosed by psychiatrists. These factors have led the psychiatrist ] to note that "there is no acceptable (rather than accepted) definition of a delusion."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = David AS |title=On the impossibility of defining delusions |journal=Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=17–20 |year=1999 }}</ref> In practice, psychiatrists tend to diagnose a belief as delusional if it is either patently bizarre, causing significant distress, or excessively pre-occupying the patient, especially if the person is subsequently unswayed in belief by counter-evidence or reasonable arguments. | |||
Cultural factors have "a decisive influence in shaping delusions".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Draguns JG, Tanaka-Matsumi J |title=Assessment of psychopathology across and within cultures: issues and findings |journal=Behav Res Ther |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=755–76 |year=2003 |month=July |pmid=12781244 |doi= |url=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0005796702001900}}</ref> For example, delusions of guilt and punishment are frequent in a Western, Christian country like Austria, but not in Pakistan - where it is more likely persecution. It says cultural factors have a decisive influence in shaping delusions.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Stompe T, Friedman A, Ortwein G, ''et al'' |title=Comparison of delusions among schizophrenics in Austria and in Pakistan |journal=Psychopathology |volume=32 |issue=5 |pages=225–34 |year=1999 |pmid=10494061 |doi= 10.1159/000029094|url=http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=psp32225}}</ref> In a series of case studies, delusions of guilt and punishment were shown in Austria as well and this is with Parkinson's patients treated with l-dopa - a dopamine agonist.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Birkmayer W, Danielczyk W, Neumayer E, Riederer P |title=The balance of biogenic amines as condition for normal behaviour |journal=J. Neural Transm. |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=163–78 |year=1972 |pmid=4643007 |doi= 10.1007/BF01260902|url=http://www.springerlink.com/index/N11474QQ25R5U236.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref> | |||
Joseph Pierre, M.D. states that one factor that helps differentiate delusions from other kinds of beliefs is that anomalous subjective experiences are often used to justify delusional beliefs. While idiosyncratic and self-referential content often make delusions impossible to share with others,<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Aftab A |title=There and Back Again: Joseph Pierre, M.D. |journal=Psychiatric Times |volume=38 |issue=1 |year=2021 |url = https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/there-back-joseph-pierre}}</ref> Pierre suggests that it may be more helpful to emphasize the level of conviction, preoccupation, and extension of a belief rather than the content of the belief when considering whether a belief is delusional.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Pierre JM | title = Faith or delusion? At the crossroads of religion and psychosis | journal = Journal of Psychiatric Practice | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | pages = 163–172 | date = May 2001 | pmid = 15990520 | doi = 10.1097/00131746-200105000-00004 | s2cid = 22897500 }}</ref> | |||
==Causes== | |||
To define delusional thinking in a specific patient, it is important to consult a local psychiatrist who can make a thorough examination before diagnosing the problem.<ref name="G">{{cite web|url=http://www.delusional.com/ |title=Delusional Disorder Definition |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> Explaining the causes of delusions has been challenging and several theories have been developed. One is the ] or biological theory, which states that close relatives of people with delusional disorder are at increased risk of delusional traits. Another theory is the dysfunctional cognitive processing, which states that delusions may arise from distorted ways people have of explaining life to themselves. A third theory is called motivated or defensive delusions. This one states that some of those persons who are predisposed might suffer the onset of delusional disorder in those moments when coping with life and maintaining high ] becomes a significant challenge. In this case, the person views others as the cause of their personal difficulties in order to preserve a positive self-view.<ref name="H">{{cite web|url=http://www.minddisorders.com/Br-Del/Delusional-disorder.html |title=Delusional Disorder |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
It is important to distinguish true delusions from other symptoms such as ], ], or ]. To diagnose delusions a mental state examination may be used. This test includes ], ], affect, ], rate and continuity of speech, evidence of hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, thought content, orientation to time, place and person, attention and ], insight and judgment, as well as short-term ].<ref name="E">{{cite web|url=http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/delusions/tests.htm |title=Diagnostic Test List for Delusions |access-date=6 August 2010}}</ref> | |||
This condition is more common among people who have poor ] or ]. Also, ongoing stressors have been associated with a higher possibility of developing delusions. Examples of such stressors are ] or low socio-economic status.<ref name="I">{{cite web|url=http://www.depression-treatment-help.com/mental-disorders/delusional-disorder.htm |title=Causes of Delusional Disorder |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
Johnson-Laird suggests that delusions may be viewed as the natural consequence of failure to distinguish conceptual relevance. That is, irrelevant information would be framed as disconnected experiences, then it is taken to be relevant in a manner that suggests false causal connections. Furthermore, relevant information would be ignored as counterexamples.<ref name="F">{{cite journal | last1=Mujica-Parodi | first1=L.R. | last2=Sackeim | first2=Harold A. | title=Cultural Invariance and the Diagnosis of Delusions | journal=The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences | publisher=American Psychiatric Association Publishing | volume=13 | issue=3 | year=2001 | issn=0895-0172 | doi=10.1176/jnp.13.3.403-a |doi-access= | pages=403–409 }} See section "A New Definition of Delusional Ideation in Terms of Model Restriction".</ref> | |||
Researcher, Orrin Devinsky, MD, from the NYU Langone Medical Center, performed a study that revealed a consistent ] of injury to the ] and right hemisphere of the ] in patients with certain delusions and brain disorders. Devinsky explains that the cognitive deficits caused by those injuries to the right hemisphere, results in the over compensation by the left hemisphere of the brain for the injury, which casues delusions.<ref name="J">{{cite web|url=http://machineslikeus.com/news/what-causes-delusions |title=What causes delusions? |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
===Definition=== | |||
A study carried out by a team from The Warwick Medical School at the ], Coventry, England, leaded by Andrea Schreier, Ph. D., indicated that ] who suffered ] are more likely to develop psychotic symptoms in early ]. The background facts demonstrated that hallucinations and delusions are common in childhood as well as in adulthood and that children who experience such symptoms are more prone to develop psychosis later in life. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that the risk of psychotic symptoms, including delusions, was multiplied by two for children who suffered bullying at age eight or ten. The authors remark that bullying can cause ] that may have an effect on a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and result in setting off the symptoms.<ref name="K">{{cite web|url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/149130.php |title=Children Who Suffered Bullying Are More Likely To Develop Psychotic Symptoms In Early Adolescence |date=|accessdate=2010-08-06}}</ref> | |||
Although non-specific concepts of madness have been around for several thousand years, the psychiatrist and philosopher ] was the first to define the four main criteria for a belief to be considered delusional in his 1913 book ''General Psychopathology''.<ref>{{Cite book |publisher = J. Springer |vauthors = Jaspers K |title = Allgemeine Psychopathologie: Ein Leitfaden für Studierende, Ärzte und Psychologen |location = Berlin |year = 1913}}</ref> These criteria are: | |||
# certainty (held with absolute conviction) | |||
# incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary) | |||
# impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre, or patently untrue)<ref>{{harvnb|Jaspers|1997|p=106}}</ref> | |||
# not amenable to understanding (i.e., belief cannot be explained psychologically)<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors = Walker C |title = Delusion: what did Jaspers really say? |journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry. Supplement |issue = 14 |pages = 94–103 |date = November 1991 |volume = 159 |doi = 10.1192/S0007125000296566 |pmid =1840789 |s2cid = 43018033 |url = https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1840789 }}</ref> | |||
Furthermore, when beliefs involve value judgments, only those which cannot be proven true are considered delusions. For example: a man claiming that he flew into the ] and flew back home. This would be considered a delusion,<ref name="A">{{cite web |url=http://www.abess.com/glossary.html#D |title=Terms in the Field of Psychiatry and Neurology |access-date=6 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819071820/http://www.abess.com/glossary.html#D |archive-date=19 August 2010 }}</ref> unless he were speaking ], or if the belief had a cultural or religious source. Only the first three criteria remain cornerstones of the current definition of a delusion in the ]. | |||
Robert Trivers writes that delusion is a discrepancy in relation to objective reality, but with a firm conviction in reality of delusional ideas, which is manifested in the "affective basis of delusion".<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Trivers R |date= 2002 |title= Natural Selection and Social Theory: Selected Papers of Robert Trivers. |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 978-0-19-513062-1}}</ref> | |||
==Treatment== | |||
Delusions and other positive symptoms of psychosis are often treated with ], which exert a medium effect size according to ].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Huhn M, Nikolakopoulou A, Schneider-Thoma J, Krause M, Samara M, Peter N, Arndt T, Bäckers L, Rothe P, Cipriani A, Davis J, Salanti G, Leucht S | display-authors = 6 | title = Comparative efficacy and tolerability of 32 oral antipsychotics for the acute treatment of adults with multi-episode schizophrenia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis | language = English | journal = Lancet | volume = 394 | issue = 10202 | pages = 939–951 | date = September 2019 | pmid = 31303314 | pmc = 6891890 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31135-3 }}</ref> ] (CBT) improves delusions relative to control conditions according to a ].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Mehl S, Werner D, Lincoln TM | title = Corrigendum: Does Cognitive Behavior Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) show a sustainable effect on delusions? A meta-analysis | journal = Frontiers in Psychology | volume = 10 | pages = 1868 | date = 2019-08-28 | pmid = 31555162 | pmc = 6724716 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01868 | doi-access = free }}</ref> A ] of 43 studies reported that ] (MCT) reduces delusions at a medium to large effect size relative to control conditions.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Penney D, Sauvé G, Mendelson D, Thibaudeau É, Moritz S, Lepage M | title = Immediate and Sustained Outcomes and Moderators Associated With Metacognitive Training for Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis | journal = JAMA Psychiatry | date = March 2022 | volume = 79 | issue = 5 | pages = 417–429 | pmid = 35320347 | pmc = 8943641 | doi = 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0277 }}</ref> | |||
==Criticism== | |||
Some psychiatrists criticize the practice of defining one and the same belief as normal in one culture and pathological in another culture for cultural ]. They argue that it is not justified to assume that culture can be simplified to a few traceable, distinguishable and statistically quantifiable factors and that everything outside those factors must be biological since cultural influences are mixed, including not only parents and teachers but also peers, friends, and media, and the same cultural influence can have different effects depending on earlier cultural influences. Other critical psychiatrists argue that just because a person's belief is unshaken by one influence does not prove that it would remain unshaken by another. For example, a person whose beliefs are not changed by verbal correction from a psychiatrist, which is how delusion is usually diagnosed, may still change his or her mind when observing ], only that psychiatrists rarely, if ever, present patients with such situations.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Double D | date = 2006 | title = Critical Psychiatry: The Limits of Madness | publisher = Springer | isbn = 978-0-230-59919-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Davidson G, Campbell J, Shannon C, Mulholland C | title = Models of mental health | publisher = Macmillan International Higher Education | date = December 2015 | isbn = 978-1-137-36591-0 }}</ref> | |||
Anthropologist ] has criticized psychiatry's assumption that an absurd belief goes from being delusional to "being there for a reason" merely because it is shared by many people by arguing that just as genetic pathogens like viruses can take advantage of an organism without benefitting said organism, ] phenomena can spread while being harmful to societies, implying that entire societies can become ill. David Graeber argued that if somatic medicine did not have higher scientific standards than psychiatry's way of defining delusion, pandemics like ] would have been considered to transubstantiate from an illness to "a phenomenon that benefits the people" as soon as it had spread to a sufficiently large portion of the population. It was argued by Graeber that since ] made sales of ] profitable by no longer needing to spend money on keeping the patients in mental hospitals, corrupt incentives for psychiatry to allege "needs" for treatments | |||
have increased (in particular with regard to medicines that are said to be needed in daily doses, not so much regarding devices that can be kept for longer periods of time) which may itself be a harmful memetic pandemic in society that leads to diagnosing and medication of criticisms of widespread beliefs that are actually absurd and harmful, making the absurd belief that is not labelled as an illness profitable anyway by attracting criticisms that are labelled as illnesses.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
{{Portal| |
{{Portal|Philosophy|Psychology|Psychiatry}} | ||
{{Columns-list|colwidth=22em| | |||
<div style="column-count:3;-moz-column-count:3;-webkit-column-count:3"> | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | * ] | ||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
== Footnotes == | |||
{{Notelist}} | |||
</div> | |||
{{Reflist}} | |||
==References== | |||
{{Reflist|2}} | |||
;Cited text | ;Cited text | ||
*{{ |
* {{Cite book | vauthors = Jaspers K |author-link=Karl Jaspers |title=General Psychopathology |volume=1 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=0-8018-5775-9 |year=1997 }} | ||
== Further reading == | == Further reading == | ||
{{refbegin}} | |||
* {{cite journal |author=Bell V, Halligan PW, Ellis H |title=Beliefs about delusions |journal=The Psychologist |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=418–423 |year=2003 |url=http://mindfull.spc.org/vaughan/Bell_et_al_2003_BeliefsAboutDelusions.pdf |format=PDF}} | |||
* {{Cite journal | vauthors = Arnold K, Vakhrusheva J |title=Resist the negation reflex: Minimizing reactance in psychotherapy of delusions |journal=Psychosis |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=166–175 |year=2015 |doi=10.1080/17522439.2015.1095229 |s2cid=146386637 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284176270 }} | |||
* {{cite journal | |||
* {{Cite journal|vauthors=Bell V, Halligan PW, Ellis H |title=Beliefs about delusions |journal=The Psychologist |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=418–423 |year=2003 |url=http://mindfull.spc.org/vaughan/Bell_et_al_2003_BeliefsAboutDelusions.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728045829/http://mindfull.spc.org/vaughan/Bell_et_al_2003_BeliefsAboutDelusions.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2011 }} | |||
| last = Blackwood | |||
* {{cite journal | vauthors = Blackwood NJ, Howard RJ, Bentall RP, Murray RM | title = Cognitive neuropsychiatric models of persecutory delusions | journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 158 | issue = 4 | pages = 527–539 | date = April 2001 | pmid = 11282685 | doi = 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.4.527 | author-link4 = Robin Murray }} | |||
| first = Nigel J. | |||
* {{Cite book |editor1=Coltheart M. |editor2=Davies M. |title=Pathologies of belief |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |year=2000 |isbn=0-631-22136-0 }} | |||
| last2 = Howard | |||
* {{Cite book |author=Persaud, R. |title=From the Edge of the Couch: Bizarre Psychiatric Cases and What They Teach Us About Ourselves |publisher=Bantam |year=2003 |isbn=0-553-81346-3 }} | |||
| first2 = Robert J. | |||
{{refend}} | |||
| last3 = Bentall | |||
| first3 = Richard P. | |||
== External links == | |||
| last4 = Murray | |||
{{Wikiquote}} | |||
| first4 = Robin M. | |||
{{Medical resources | |||
| authorlink4 = Robin Murray | |||
| |
| ICD10 = {{ICD10|F22}} | ||
| |
| ICD9 = {{ICD9|297}} | ||
| |
| ICDO = | ||
| |
| OMIM = | ||
| |
| DiseasesDB = 33439 | ||
| |
| MedlinePlus = | ||
| |
| eMedicineSubj = | ||
| eMedicineTopic = | |||
| url = http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/158/4/527 | |||
| |
| MeshID = D003702 | ||
| GeneReviewsNBK = | |||
| GeneReviewsName = | |||
| NORD = | |||
| GARDNum = | |||
| GARDName = | |||
| Orphanet = | |||
| AO = | |||
| RP = | |||
| WO = | |||
| OrthoInfo = | |||
| NCI = | |||
| Scholia = | |||
| SNOMED CT = | |||
}} | }} | ||
* {{cite book |editor=Coltheart M., Davies M. |title=Pathologies of belief |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |year=2000 |isbn=0-631-22136-0 }} | |||
* {{cite book |author=Persaud, R. |title=From the Edge of the Couch: Bizarre Psychiatric Cases and What They Teach Us About Ourselves |publisher=Bantam |year=2003 |isbn=0-553-81346-3 }} | |||
{{Delusion}} | |||
{{Bipolar disorder}} | {{Bipolar disorder}} | ||
{{Mental and behavioral disorders|selected |
{{Mental and behavioral disorders|selected=schizophrenia}} | ||
{{Authority control}} | |||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | |||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | ] | ||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] | |||
] |
Latest revision as of 23:16, 31 December 2024
Fixation of holding false beliefs For other uses, see Delusion (disambiguation). See also: Delusional disorderMedical condition
Delusion | |
---|---|
Specialty | Psychiatry |
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some other misleading effects of perception, as individuals with those beliefs are able to change or readjust their beliefs upon reviewing the evidence. However:
"The distinction between a delusion and a strongly held idea is sometimes difficult to make and depends in part on the degree of conviction with which the belief is held despite clear or reasonable contradictory evidence regarding its veracity."
Delusions have been found to occur in the context of many pathological states (both general physical and mental) and are of particular diagnostic importance in psychotic disorders including schizophrenia, paraphrenia, manic episodes of bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression.
Types
Delusions are categorized into four different groups:
- Bizarre delusion: Delusions are deemed bizarre if they are clearly implausible and not understandable to same-culture peers and do not derive from ordinary life experiences. An example named by the DSM-5 is a belief that someone replaced all of one's internal organs with someone else's without leaving a scar, depending on the organ in question.
- Non-bizarre delusion: A delusion that, though false, reflects real–life situations and is at least technically possible; it may include feelings of being followed, poisoned, infected etc. e.g., the affected person mistakenly believes that they are under constant police surveillance.
- Mood-congruent delusion: Any delusion with content consistent with either a depressive or manic state, e.g., a depressed person believes that news anchors on television highly disapprove of them, or a person in a manic state might believe they are a powerful deity.
- Mood-neutral delusion: A delusion that does not relate to the patient's emotional state; for example, a belief that an extra limb is growing out of the back of one's head is neutral to either depression or mania.
French psychiatry (which is influenced by psychoanalysis), however, also establishes a difference between "paranoid" (paranoïde) and "paranoiac" (paranoïaque) delusion. The paranoid delusion, observed in schizophrenia, is non-systematized and is characterized by a disorganized structure and confused speech and thoughts. The paranoiac delusion, observed in paraphrenia, is highly systematized (which means it is very organized and clear) and is focused on a single theme.
Themes
In addition to these categories, delusions often manifest according to a consistent theme. Although delusions can have any theme, certain themes are more common. Some of the more common delusion themes are:
- Delusion of control: False belief that another person, group of people, or external force controls one's general thoughts, feelings, impulses, or behaviors.
- Delusional jealousy: False belief that a spouse or lover is having an affair, with no proof to back up the claim.
- Delusion of guilt or sin (or delusion of self-accusation): Ungrounded feeling of remorse or guilt of delusional intensity.
- Thought broadcasting: False belief that other people can know one's thoughts.
- Delusion of thought insertion: Belief that another thinks through the mind of the person.
- Persecutory delusions: False belief that one is being persecuted.
- Delusion of reference: False belief that insignificant remarks, events, or objects in one's environment have personal meaning or significance. "Usually the meaning assigned to these events is negative, but the 'messages' can also have a grandiose quality."
- Erotomania: False belief that another person is in love with them.
- Religious delusion: Belief that the affected person is a god or chosen to act as a god.
- Somatic delusion: Delusion whose content pertains to bodily functioning, bodily sensations or physical appearance. Usually the false belief is that the body is somehow diseased, abnormal or changed. A specific example of this delusion is delusional parasitosis: Delusion in which one feels infested with insects, bacteria, mites, spiders, lice, fleas, worms, or other organisms.
- Delusion of poverty: Person strongly believes they are financially incapacitated. Although this type of delusion is less common now, it was particularly widespread in the days preceding state support.
Grandiose delusions
Grandiose delusions or delusions of grandeur are principally a subtype of delusional disorder but could possibly feature as a symptom of schizophrenia and manic episodes of bipolar disorder. Grandiose delusions are characterized by fantastical beliefs that one is famous, omnipotent or otherwise very powerful. The delusions are generally fantastic, often with a supernatural, science-fictional, or religious bent. In colloquial usage, one who overestimates one's own abilities, talents, stature or situation is sometimes said to have "delusions of grandeur". This is generally due to excessive pride, rather than any actual delusions. Grandiose delusions or delusions of grandeur can also be associated with megalomania.
Persecutory delusions
Main article: Persecutory delusionPersecutory delusions are the most common type of delusions and involve the theme of being followed, harassed, cheated, poisoned or drugged, conspired against, spied on, attacked, or otherwise obstructed in the pursuit of goals. Persecutory delusions are a condition in which the affected person wrongly believes that they are being persecuted. Specifically, they have been defined as containing two central elements: The individual thinks that:
- harm is occurring, or is going to occur
- the persecutors have the intention to cause harm
According to the DSM-IV-TR, persecutory delusions are the most common form of delusions in schizophrenia, where the person believes they are "being tormented, followed, sabotaged, tricked, spied on, or ridiculed". In the DSM-IV-TR, persecutory delusions are the main feature of the persecutory type of delusional disorder. When the focus is to remedy some injustice by legal action, they are sometimes called "querulous paranoia".
Causes
See also: Psychosis (causes)Explaining the causes of delusions continues to be challenging and several theories have been developed. One is the genetic or biological theory, which states that close relatives of people with delusional disorder are at increased risk of delusional traits. Another theory is the dysfunctional cognitive processing, which states that delusions may arise from distorted ways people have of explaining life to themselves. A third theory is called motivated or defensive delusions. This one states that some of those persons who are predisposed might experience the onset of delusional disorder in those moments when coping with life and maintaining high self-esteem becomes a significant challenge. In this case, the person views others as the cause of their personal difficulties in order to preserve a positive self-view.
This condition is more common among people who have poor hearing or sight. Also, ongoing stressors have been associated with a higher possibility of developing delusions. Examples of such stressors are immigration, low socioeconomic status, and even possibly the accumulation of smaller daily struggles.
Specific delusions
The top two factors mainly concerned in the germination of delusions are disorder of brain functioning and background influences of temperament and personality.
Higher levels of dopamine qualify as a sign of disorders of brain function. That they are needed to sustain certain delusions was examined by a preliminary study on delusional disorder (a psychotic syndrome) instigated to clarify if schizophrenia had a dopamine psychosis. There were positive results - delusions of jealousy and persecution had different levels of dopamine metabolite HVA and homovanillyl alcohol (which may have been genetic). These can be only regarded as tentative results; the study called for future research with a larger population.
It is simplistic to say that a certain measure of dopamine will bring about a specific delusion. Studies show age and gender to be influential and it is most likely that HVA levels change during the life course of some syndromes.
On the influence of personality, it has been said: "Jaspers considered there is a subtle change in personality due to the illness itself; and this creates the condition for the development of the delusional atmosphere in which the delusional intuition arises."
Cultural factors have "a decisive influence in shaping delusions". For example, delusions of guilt and punishment are frequent in a Western, Christian country like Austria, but not in Pakistan, where it is more likely persecution. Similarly, in a series of case studies, delusions of guilt and punishment were found in Austrian patients with Parkinson's being treated with l-dopa, a dopamine agonist.
Pathophysiology
The two-factor model of delusions posits that dysfunction in both belief formation systems and belief evaluation systems are necessary for delusions. Dysfunction in evaluations systems localized to the right lateral prefrontal cortex, regardless of delusion content, is supported by neuroimaging studies and is congruent with its role in conflict monitoring in healthy persons. Abnormal activation and reduced volume is seen in people with delusions, as well as in disorders associated with delusions such as frontotemporal dementia, psychosis and Lewy body dementia. Furthermore, lesions to this region are associated with "jumping to conclusions", damage to this region is associated with post-stroke delusions, and hypometabolism this region associated with caudate strokes presenting with delusions.
The aberrant salience model suggests that delusions are a result of people assigning excessive importance to irrelevant stimuli. In support of this hypothesis, regions normally associated with the salience network demonstrate reduced grey matter in people with delusions, and the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is widely implicated in salience processing, is also widely implicated in psychotic disorders.
Specific regions have been associated with specific types of delusions. The volume of the hippocampus and parahippocampus is related to paranoid delusions in Alzheimer's disease, and has been reported to be abnormal post mortem in one person with delusions. Capgras delusions have been associated with occipito-temporal damage and may be related to failure to elicit normal emotions or memories in response to faces.
Diagnosis
The modern definition and Jaspers' original criteria have been criticised, as counter-examples can be shown for every defining feature.
Studies on psychiatric patients show that delusions vary in intensity and conviction over time, which suggests that certainty and incorrigibility are not necessary components of a delusional belief.
Delusions do not necessarily have to be false or 'incorrect inferences about external reality'. Some religious or spiritual beliefs by their nature may not be falsifiable, and hence cannot be described as false or incorrect, no matter whether the person holding these beliefs was diagnosed as delusional or not. In other situations the delusion may turn out to be true belief. For example, in delusional jealousy, where a person believes that their partner is being unfaithful (and may even follow them into the bathroom believing them to be seeing their lover even during the briefest of partings), it may actually be true that the partner is having sexual relations with another person. In this case, the delusion does not cease to be a delusion because the content later turns out to be verified as true or the partner actually chose to engage in the behavior of which they were being accused.
In other cases, the belief may be mistakenly assumed to be false by a doctor or psychiatrist assessing it, just because it seems to be unlikely, bizarre or held with excessive conviction. Psychiatrists rarely have the time or resources to check the validity of a person's claims leading to some true beliefs to be erroneously classified as delusional. This is known as the Martha Mitchell effect, after the wife of the attorney general who alleged that illegal activity was taking place in the White House. At the time, her claims were thought to be signs of mental illness, and only after the Watergate scandal broke was she proved right (and hence sane).
Similar factors have led to criticisms of Jaspers' definition of true delusions as being ultimately 'un-understandable'. Critics (such as R. D. Laing) have argued that this leads to the diagnosis of delusions being based on the subjective understanding of a particular psychiatrist, who may not have access to all the information that might make a belief otherwise interpretable. R. D. Laing's hypothesis has been applied to some forms of projective therapy to "fix" a delusional system so that it cannot be altered by the patient. Psychiatric researchers at Yale University, Ohio State University and the Community Mental Health Center of Middle Georgia have used novels and motion picture films as the focus. Texts, plots and cinematography are discussed and the delusions approached tangentially. This use of fiction to decrease the malleability of a delusion was employed in a joint project by science-fiction author Philip Jose Farmer and Yale psychiatrist A. James Giannini. They wrote the novel Red Orc's Rage, which, recursively, deals with delusional adolescents who are treated with a form of projective therapy. In this novel's fictional setting other novels written by Farmer are discussed and the characters are symbolically integrated into the delusions of fictional patients. This particular novel was then applied to real-life clinical settings.
Another difficulty with the diagnosis of delusions is that almost all of these features can be found in "normal" beliefs. Many religious beliefs hold exactly the same features, yet are not universally considered delusional. For instance, if a person was holding a true belief then they will of course persist with it. This can cause the disorder to be misdiagnosed by psychiatrists. These factors have led the psychiatrist Anthony David to note that "there is no acceptable (rather than accepted) definition of a delusion." In practice, psychiatrists tend to diagnose a belief as delusional if it is either patently bizarre, causing significant distress, or excessively pre-occupying the patient, especially if the person is subsequently unswayed in belief by counter-evidence or reasonable arguments.
Joseph Pierre, M.D. states that one factor that helps differentiate delusions from other kinds of beliefs is that anomalous subjective experiences are often used to justify delusional beliefs. While idiosyncratic and self-referential content often make delusions impossible to share with others, Pierre suggests that it may be more helpful to emphasize the level of conviction, preoccupation, and extension of a belief rather than the content of the belief when considering whether a belief is delusional.
It is important to distinguish true delusions from other symptoms such as anxiety, fear, or paranoia. To diagnose delusions a mental state examination may be used. This test includes appearance, mood, affect, behavior, rate and continuity of speech, evidence of hallucinations or abnormal beliefs, thought content, orientation to time, place and person, attention and concentration, insight and judgment, as well as short-term memory.
Johnson-Laird suggests that delusions may be viewed as the natural consequence of failure to distinguish conceptual relevance. That is, irrelevant information would be framed as disconnected experiences, then it is taken to be relevant in a manner that suggests false causal connections. Furthermore, relevant information would be ignored as counterexamples.
Definition
Although non-specific concepts of madness have been around for several thousand years, the psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers was the first to define the four main criteria for a belief to be considered delusional in his 1913 book General Psychopathology. These criteria are:
- certainty (held with absolute conviction)
- incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary)
- impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre, or patently untrue)
- not amenable to understanding (i.e., belief cannot be explained psychologically)
Furthermore, when beliefs involve value judgments, only those which cannot be proven true are considered delusions. For example: a man claiming that he flew into the Sun and flew back home. This would be considered a delusion, unless he were speaking figuratively, or if the belief had a cultural or religious source. Only the first three criteria remain cornerstones of the current definition of a delusion in the DSM-5.
Robert Trivers writes that delusion is a discrepancy in relation to objective reality, but with a firm conviction in reality of delusional ideas, which is manifested in the "affective basis of delusion".
Treatment
Delusions and other positive symptoms of psychosis are often treated with antipsychotic medication, which exert a medium effect size according to meta-analytic evidence. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) improves delusions relative to control conditions according to a meta-analysis. A meta-analysis of 43 studies reported that metacognitive training (MCT) reduces delusions at a medium to large effect size relative to control conditions.
Criticism
Some psychiatrists criticize the practice of defining one and the same belief as normal in one culture and pathological in another culture for cultural essentialism. They argue that it is not justified to assume that culture can be simplified to a few traceable, distinguishable and statistically quantifiable factors and that everything outside those factors must be biological since cultural influences are mixed, including not only parents and teachers but also peers, friends, and media, and the same cultural influence can have different effects depending on earlier cultural influences. Other critical psychiatrists argue that just because a person's belief is unshaken by one influence does not prove that it would remain unshaken by another. For example, a person whose beliefs are not changed by verbal correction from a psychiatrist, which is how delusion is usually diagnosed, may still change his or her mind when observing empirical evidence, only that psychiatrists rarely, if ever, present patients with such situations.
Anthropologist David Graeber has criticized psychiatry's assumption that an absurd belief goes from being delusional to "being there for a reason" merely because it is shared by many people by arguing that just as genetic pathogens like viruses can take advantage of an organism without benefitting said organism, memetic phenomena can spread while being harmful to societies, implying that entire societies can become ill. David Graeber argued that if somatic medicine did not have higher scientific standards than psychiatry's way of defining delusion, pandemics like the plague would have been considered to transubstantiate from an illness to "a phenomenon that benefits the people" as soon as it had spread to a sufficiently large portion of the population. It was argued by Graeber that since deinstitutionalisation made sales of psychiatric medication profitable by no longer needing to spend money on keeping the patients in mental hospitals, corrupt incentives for psychiatry to allege "needs" for treatments have increased (in particular with regard to medicines that are said to be needed in daily doses, not so much regarding devices that can be kept for longer periods of time) which may itself be a harmful memetic pandemic in society that leads to diagnosing and medication of criticisms of widespread beliefs that are actually absurd and harmful, making the absurd belief that is not labelled as an illness profitable anyway by attracting criticisms that are labelled as illnesses.
See also
- Bizarre object
- Cotard's delusion
- Clinical lycanthropy
- Delirium
- Delusional misidentification syndrome
- Folie à deux
- Hallucination
- Intrusive thoughts
- Jerusalem syndrome
- Mass hysteria
- Monothematic delusion
- Paris syndrome
- Prelest
- Reduplicative paramnesia
Footnotes
- From Latin delusio lit. 'deceiving', from deludere 'to mock, to deceive'
- Harper, Douglas. "delusion". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Bortolotti L (7 June 2013). "Delusions in the DSM 5". Imperfect Cognitions.
- Dunayevich, Eduardo; Keck, Paul E. (2000). "Prevalence and description of psychotic features in bipolar mania". Current Psychiatry Reports. 2 (4): 286–290. doi:10.1007/s11920-000-0069-4. ISSN 1523-3812.
- Bergen, Annet H. van; Verkooijen, Sanne; Vreeker, Annabel; Abramovic, Lucija; Hillegers, Manon H.; Spijker, Annet T.; Hoencamp, Erik; Regeer, Eline J.; Knapen, Stefan E.; Lek, Rixt F. Riemersma-van der; Schoevers, Robert; Stevens, Anja W.; Schulte, Peter F. J.; Vonk, Ronald; Hoekstra, Rocco (2019). "The characteristics of psychotic features in bipolar disorder". Psychological Medicine. 49 (12): 2036–2048. doi:10.1017/S0033291718002854. ISSN 0033-2917.
- Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5. American Psychiatric Association. 2013.
- Chowdhury, Arabinda N. (2019). Bedside Psychiatry. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers. p. 102. ISBN 978-93-5270-985-4.
- ^ "Delusions". Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Advameg.com. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- "Paranoïa (histoire du concept)". Universalis (in French).
- Pirlot, Gérard; Cupa, Dominique (2019). "Chapitre 22. Psychoses passionnelles et délires paranoïaques". Approche psychanalytique des troubles psychiques. Dunod. pp. 218–243.
- "Paranoïde". Larousse.
- "Religious delusions are common symptoms of schizophrenia". Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- Raja M, Azzoni A, Lubich L. "Religious delusion" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- Barker, p.. 1997. Assessment in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing in Search of the Whole Person. UK: Nelson Thornes Ltd. p. 241.
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000)
- Kunert HJ, Norra C, Hoff P (March 2007). "Theories of delusional disorders. An update and review". Psychopathology. 40 (3): 191–202. doi:10.1159/000100367. PMID 17337940.
- Freeman D, Garety PA (2004). Paranoia: The Psychology of Persecutory Delusions. Hove: PsychoIogy Press. ISBN 1-84169-522-X.
- Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. 2000. p. 299. ISBN 0-89042-025-4.
- Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. 2000. p. 325. ISBN 0-89042-025-4.
- Kiran C, Chaudhury S (January 2009). "Understanding delusions". Industrial Psychiatry Journal. 18 (1): 3–18. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.57851. PMC 3016695. PMID 21234155.
- McKenna, Peter (25 July 2017). Delusions: Understanding the Un-understandable (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139871785. ISBN 978-1-139-87178-5.
- "Delusional Disorder". Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- Kingston C, Schuurmans-Stekhoven J (December 2016). "Life hassles and delusional ideation: Scoping the potential role of cognitive and affective mediators". Psychology and Psychotherapy. 89 (4): 445–463. doi:10.1111/papt.12089. PMID 26846698.
- Sims A (2002). Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive psychopathology. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. p. 127. ISBN 0-7020-2627-1.
- Morimoto K, Miyatake R, Nakamura M, Watanabe T, Hirao T, Suwaki H (June 2002). "Delusional disorder: molecular genetic evidence for dopamine psychosis". Neuropsychopharmacology. 26 (6): 794–801. doi:10.1016/S0893-133X(01)00421-3. PMID 12007750.
- Mazure CM, Bowers MB (February 1998). "Pretreatment plasma HVA predicts neuroleptic response in manic psychosis". Journal of Affective Disorders. 48 (1): 83–86. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00159-6. PMID 9495606.
- Yamada N, Nakajima S, Noguchi T (February 1998). "Age at onset of delusional disorder is dependent on the delusional theme". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 97 (2): 122–124. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb09973.x. PMID 9517905. S2CID 39266698.
- Tamplin A, Goodyer IM, Herbert J (February 1998). "Family functioning and parent general health in families of adolescents with major depressive disorder". Journal of Affective Disorders. 48 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/S0165-0327(97)00105-5. PMID 9495597.
- Sims A (2002). Symptoms in the mind: an introduction to descriptive psychopathology. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders. p. 128. ISBN 0-7020-2627-1.
- Draguns JG, Tanaka-Matsumi J (July 2003). "Assessment of psychopathology across and within cultures: issues and findings". Behaviour Research and Therapy. 41 (7): 755–776. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(02)00190-0. PMID 12781244.
- Stompe T, Friedman A, Ortwein G, Strobl R, Chaudhry HR, Najam N, Chaudhry MR (1999). "Comparison of delusions among schizophrenics in Austria and in Pakistan". Psychopathology. 32 (5): 225–234. doi:10.1159/000029094. PMID 10494061. S2CID 25376490.
- Birkmayer W, Danielczyk W, Neumayer E, Riederer P (1972). "The balance of biogenic amines as condition for normal behaviour". Journal of Neural Transmission. 33 (2): 163–178. doi:10.1007/BF01260902. PMID 4643007. S2CID 28152591.
- Naasan G. "The Anatomy of Delusions". In Lehner T, Miller B, State M (eds.). Genomics, Circuits, and Pathways in Clinical Neuropsychiatry. Elsevier Science. pp. 366–369.
- Myin-Germeys I, Nicolson NA, Delespaul PA (April 2001). "The context of delusional experiences in the daily life of patients with schizophrenia". Psychological Medicine. 31 (3): 489–498. doi:10.1017/s0033291701003646. PMID 11305857. S2CID 25884819.
- Spitzer M (1990). "On defining delusions". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 31 (5): 377–397. doi:10.1016/0010-440X(90)90023-L. PMID 2225797.
- Young AW (2000). "Wondrous strange: The neuropsychology of abnormal beliefs". In Coltheart M., Davis M. (eds.). Pathologies of belief. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 47–74. ISBN 0-631-22136-0.
- Jones E (1999). "The phenomenology of abnormal belief". Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology. 6: 1–16.
- Maher BA (1988). "Anomalous experience and delusional thinking: The logic of explanations". In Oltmanns T., Maher B. (eds.). Delusional Beliefs. New York: Wiley Interscience. ISBN 0-471-83635-4.
- Giannini AJ (2001). "Use of fiction in therapy". Psychiatric Times. 18 (7): 56.
- Giannini AJ (1991). "Afterword". In Farmer PJ (ed.). Red Orc's Rage. NY: Tor Books. pp. 279–282.
- David AS (1999). "On the impossibility of defining delusions". Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology. 6 (1): 17–20.
- Aftab A (2021). "There and Back Again: Joseph Pierre, M.D." Psychiatric Times. 38 (1).
- Pierre JM (May 2001). "Faith or delusion? At the crossroads of religion and psychosis". Journal of Psychiatric Practice. 7 (3): 163–172. doi:10.1097/00131746-200105000-00004. PMID 15990520. S2CID 22897500.
- "Diagnostic Test List for Delusions". Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- Mujica-Parodi, L.R.; Sackeim, Harold A. (2001). "Cultural Invariance and the Diagnosis of Delusions". The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 13 (3). American Psychiatric Association Publishing: 403–409. doi:10.1176/jnp.13.3.403-a. ISSN 0895-0172. See section "A New Definition of Delusional Ideation in Terms of Model Restriction".
- Jaspers K (1913). Allgemeine Psychopathologie: Ein Leitfaden für Studierende, Ärzte und Psychologen. Berlin: J. Springer.
- Jaspers 1997, p. 106
- Walker C (November 1991). "Delusion: what did Jaspers really say?". The British Journal of Psychiatry. Supplement. 159 (14): 94–103. doi:10.1192/S0007125000296566. PMID 1840789. S2CID 43018033.
- "Terms in the Field of Psychiatry and Neurology". Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
- Trivers R (2002). Natural Selection and Social Theory: Selected Papers of Robert Trivers. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513062-1.
- Huhn M, Nikolakopoulou A, Schneider-Thoma J, Krause M, Samara M, Peter N, et al. (September 2019). "Comparative efficacy and tolerability of 32 oral antipsychotics for the acute treatment of adults with multi-episode schizophrenia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis". Lancet. 394 (10202): 939–951. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31135-3. PMC 6891890. PMID 31303314.
- Mehl S, Werner D, Lincoln TM (28 August 2019). "Corrigendum: Does Cognitive Behavior Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) show a sustainable effect on delusions? A meta-analysis". Frontiers in Psychology. 10: 1868. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01868. PMC 6724716. PMID 31555162.
- Penney D, Sauvé G, Mendelson D, Thibaudeau É, Moritz S, Lepage M (March 2022). "Immediate and Sustained Outcomes and Moderators Associated With Metacognitive Training for Psychosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis". JAMA Psychiatry. 79 (5): 417–429. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0277. PMC 8943641. PMID 35320347.
- Double D (2006). Critical Psychiatry: The Limits of Madness. Springer. ISBN 978-0-230-59919-2.
- Davidson G, Campbell J, Shannon C, Mulholland C (December 2015). Models of mental health. Macmillan International Higher Education. ISBN 978-1-137-36591-0.
- Cited text
- Jaspers K (1997). General Psychopathology. Vol. 1. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5775-9.
Further reading
- Arnold K, Vakhrusheva J (2015). "Resist the negation reflex: Minimizing reactance in psychotherapy of delusions". Psychosis. 8 (2): 166–175. doi:10.1080/17522439.2015.1095229. S2CID 146386637.
- Bell V, Halligan PW, Ellis H (2003). "Beliefs about delusions" (PDF). The Psychologist. 16 (8): 418–423. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 July 2011.
- Blackwood NJ, Howard RJ, Bentall RP, Murray RM (April 2001). "Cognitive neuropsychiatric models of persecutory delusions". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 158 (4): 527–539. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.4.527. PMID 11282685.
- Coltheart M.; Davies M., eds. (2000). Pathologies of belief. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-22136-0.
- Persaud, R. (2003). From the Edge of the Couch: Bizarre Psychiatric Cases and What They Teach Us About Ourselves. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-81346-3.
External links
Classification | D |
---|
Mood disorder | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spectrum |
| ||||||||
Symptoms | |||||||||
Diagnosis | |||||||||
Treatment |
| ||||||||
History |
Mental disorders (Classification) | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
|