Delusional disorder is a type of mental health condition in which a person can’t tell what’s real from what’s imagined. There are many types, including persecutory, jealous and grandiose types. It’s treatable with psychotherapy and medication. Can-Am Interventions would like to bring awareness to this severe and common health concern.
What is delusional disorder?
Delusional disorder is a type of psychotic disorder. Its main symptom is the presence of one or more delusions.
A delusion is an unshakable belief in something that’s untrue. The belief isn’t a part of the person’s culture or subculture, and almost everyone else knows this belief to be false.People with delusional disorder often experience non-bizarre delusions. Non-bizarre delusions involve situations that could possibly occur in real life, such as being followed, deceived or loved from a distance. These delusions usually involve the misinterpretation of perceptions or experiences. In reality, these situations are either untrue or are highly exaggerated.Non-bizarre delusions are different from bizarre delusions, which include beliefs that are impossible in our reality, such as believing someone has removed an organ from your body without any physical evidence of the procedure, or that their dog is a secret undercover agent working with the government.People with delusional disorder often continue to socialize and function well, apart from the subject of their delusion. Generally, they don’t behave in an odd or unusual manner. This is unlike people with other psychotic disorders, who might also have delusions as a symptom. In some cases, however, people with delusional disorder might become so preoccupied with their delusions that their lives are disrupted.
What are the types of delusional disorder?
There are different types of delusional disorder, which are determined based on the main theme of the delusions the person experiences. The types of delusional disorder include:
- Erotomanic: People with this type of delusional disorder believe that another person, often someone important or famous, is in love with them. They may attempt to contact the person of the delusion and engage in stalking behavior.
- Grandiose: People with this type of delusional disorder have an overinflated sense of self-worth, power, knowledge or identity. They may believe they have a great talent or have made an important discovery.
- Jealous: People with this type of delusional disorder believe that their spouse or sexual partner is unfaithful without any concrete evidence.
- Persecutory: People with this type of delusional disorder believe someone or something is mistreating, spying on or attempting to harm them (or someone close to them). People with this type of delusional disorder may make repeated complaints to legal authorities.
- Somatic: People with this type of delusional disorder believe that they have a physical issue or medical problem, such as a parasite or a bad odor.
- Mixed: People with this type of delusional disorder have two or more of the types of delusions listed above. This one to be most common with drug and/or alcohol abuse.
What is the difference between delusional disorder and schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a spectrum (or range) of conditions that involve psychotic symptoms, which include:
- Disorganized speech or behavior.
- Negative symptoms (a decrease in emotion in a person’s facial expressions and motivation).
Delusional disorder is different from schizophrenia because there aren’t any other psychotic symptoms other than delusions.In addition, in contrast to schizophrenia, delusional disorder is relatively rare, and daily functioning isn’t as impaired as it is in schizophrenia.
Who does delusional disorder affect?
Delusional disorder most often occurs in middle to late life, with the average age of onset being 40 years. Some will suffer from this disorder do to ongoing drug abuse.The persecutory and jealous types of delusional disorder are more common in males at birth (AMAB), and the erotomaniac type is more common in females at birth (AFAB).People who tend to be socially isolated are more likely to develop delusional disorder. These populations include:
- Immigrants who have language barriers.
- Persons with drug and alcohol abuse issues.
- People who are deaf.
- People who are visually impaired.
- People dealing with trauma and grief.
- Elderly people.
How common is delusional disorder?
Although delusions might be a symptom of more common disorders, such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder itself is rather rare. Approximately 0.05% to 0.1% of the adult population has delusional disorder.
What is the most common type of delusional disorder?
The most common type of delusional disorder is the persecutory type — when someone believes others are out to harm them despite evidence to the contrary.
What are the signs and symptoms of delusional disorder?
The presence of delusions is the most obvious sign of delusional disorder, which vary based on the type.Another characteristic of this condition is that the person often lacks self-awareness that their delusions are problematic. They’re unable to accept that their delusions are irrational or inaccurate, even if they recognize that other people would describe their delusions this way.Anger and violent behavior may be present if someone is experiencing persecutory, jealous or erotomaniac delusions.People with delusional disorder may also develop anxiety and/or depression as a result of the delusions.
Early symptoms of delusional disorder may include:
- Feelings of being exploited.
- Sever denial
- Preoccupation with the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends.
- A tendency to read threatening meanings into benign remarks or events.
- Persistently holding grudges.
- A readiness to respond and react to perceived slights.
What causes delusional disorder?
As with many other psychotic disorders, researchers don’t yet know the exact cause of delusional disorder. Researchers are, however, looking at the role of various factors that may contribute to the development of the condition, including:
Genetic factors: The fact that delusional disorder is more common in people who have family members with delusional disorder or schizophrenia suggests there might be a genetic factor involved. Researchers believe that, as with other mental disorders, a tendency to develop delusional disorder might be passed on from parents to their biological children.
Biological factors: Researchers are studying how abnormalities of certain areas of your brain might be involved in the development of delusional disorder. An imbalance of certain chemicals in your brain, called neurotransmitters, has been linked to the formation of delusional symptoms.
Environmental and psychological factors: Evidence suggests that delusional disorder can be triggered by stress. Alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder might contribute to the condition. Hypersensitivity and ego defense mechanisms like reaction formation, projection and denial are some psychodynamic theories for the development of delusional disorder. Social isolation, envy, distrust, suspicion, and low self-esteem are also some psychological factors that may lead to a person seeking an explanation for these feelings and, thus, forming a delusion as a solution.
Help?
Our mental health is our first main priority. Without a clean bill of mental health we are unable to achieve the many other parts of life that are meaningful for us such as, being a good parent, a successful employee or to reach personal goals that matter to us. The fundamentals of a healthy mental state are regular exercise, Healthy eating, consistent social interaction and a sense of purpose(work, volunteer duties, team sports are some examples). Then there is the complicated side of good mental health. This is when a person fulfills the fundamentals listed above but still seem to struggle to the point of unmanageability. Can-Am understands the importance of good mental health and has a vast knowledge and ongoing experience dealing with people who struggle with this very debilitating problem. We are here for you and the people in your support network to help clarify and guide throughwhat is a very complicated issue. If you or someone you care about is struggling with mental health problems, please reach out to us, we are here to support you, to facilitate a treatment plan and to provide council throughout the recovery process.
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