Describe delusional disorders, including the different types of delusions individuals with this disorder usually have; explain how delusional disorder differs from other types of psychotic disorders, especially schizophrenia; and discuss the characteristics of the most common type of delusional disorder and why individuals with this delusional disorder are difficult to treat and why they can, in

Question

some situations, be dangerous.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer will include that although delusional disorder is a type of psychotic disorder, people suffering from it usually do not exhibit hallucinations, emotional excesses, or personality disintegration. The main feature of delusional disorders is the presence of deeply held false beliefs, which may take the following forms. In erotomanic type of delusional disorder, people have erotic delusions that they are loved by another person, especially by someone famous or of higher status. Some celebrity stalkers suffer from erotomania. In grandiose type, people suffer from the delusion that they have some great, unrecognized talent, knowledge, or insight. They may also believe that they have a special relationship with an important person or with God or that they are a famous person. If the famous person is alive, the deluded person regards her or him as an imposter. An example of the jealous type of delusion would be having an all-consuming, but unfounded, belief that your spouse or lover is unfaithful. Persecutory type delusions involve the belief that you are being conspired against, cheated, spied on, followed, poisoned, maligned, or harassed. People suffering from somatic delusions typically believe that their bodies are diseased or rotting, or infested with insects or parasites, or that parts of their bodies are defective. Although these beliefs are false, and sometimes far-fetched, all these delusions are about experiences that could occur in real life. In other types of psychosis, delusions tend to be more bizarre. For example, a person with schizophrenia might believe that space aliens have replaced all his or her internal organs with electronic monitoring devices. In contrast, people with ordinary delusions merely believe that someone is trying to steal their money, that they are being deceived by a lover, or that the FBI is watching them. The most common delusional disorder centers on delusions of persecution, and is often called paranoid psychosis. Many self-styled reformers, crank letter writers, conspiracy theorists and the like suffer paranoid delusions. Paranoid individuals often believe that they are being cheated, spied on, followed, poisoned, harassed, or plotted against. Usually they are intensely suspicious, believing they must be on guard at all times. The evidence such people find to support their beliefs usually fails to persuade others. Every detail of the paranoid person's existence is woven into a private version of "what's really going on.". Buzzing during a telephone conversation may be interpreted as "someone listening"; a stranger who comes to the door asking for directions may be seen as "really trying to get information"; and so forth. It is difficult to treat people suffering from paranoid delusions because it is almost impossible for them to accept that they need help. Anyone who suggests that they have a problem simply becomes part of the "conspiracy" to "persecute" them. Consequently, paranoid people frequently lead lonely, isolated, and humorless lives dominated by constant suspicion and hostility. Although they are not necessarily dangerous to others, they can be. People who believe that the Mafia, "government agents," terrorists, or a street gang is slowly closing in on them may be moved to violence by their irrational fears. Imagine that a stranger comes to the door to ask a paranoid person for directions. If the stranger has his hand in his coat pocket, he could become the target of a paranoid attempt at "self-defense.".