Delusions

Delusions

This is a firmly held belief, which is not based on logic and not amenable to logical argument, which cannot be explained in terms of a patient's social or cultural background. A delusion is usually false. For example a person may claim his neighbor is sending rays to kill him. In order for this to be a delusion, the person should believe this very firmly, even though he had no logical evidence to support this belief; he might even act on this belie (for example he may take steps to protect himself). It is also not possible to change his belief by logical argument, and his belief is not shared by others in this community.

There are many different types of delusions, and delusions may be seen in many different types of psychotic disorders. Patients with severe mood disorders often have delusions that are mood congruent that is which match their mood. For example:
A manic patient may have delusions of grandiosity (for example he is the president of his country) or delusions of persecution (for example people are trying to kill him because he is so powerful).
A severely depressed patient too may have delusions, but these would be with negative themes; for example delusions of persecution(e.g. people are trying to kill him; and he deserves to die because he is wicked), or nihilistic delusions(for example his family is dead; he has lost everything).

Delusions are also seen in schizophrenia and delusional or disorder. Certain types of delusions are typical of schizophrenia, and are induced in Schneider's first rank symptoms of schizophrenia. They include delusions of control, delusional perception, thought insertion, thought withdrawal, thought broadcasting and thought echo.