Scribd
Upload
58 views

Delusional Disorder

1) Delusional disorder involves non-bizarre, false beliefs or delusions that persist for at least a month. Unlike schizophrenia, functioning is not obviously impaired aside from the direct effects of the delusions. 2) There are several subtypes of delusional disorder based on the content of the delusions, including erotomanic, grandiose, jealous, and persecutory delusions. 3) Delusional disorder is difficult to treat and often does not improve with antipsychotic medication alone. Treatment involves psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy, along with medication in some cases.

Uploaded by

Najm Us Saqib Bhat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
58 views

Delusional Disorder

1) Delusional disorder involves non-bizarre, false beliefs or delusions that persist for at least a month. Unlike schizophrenia, functioning is not obviously impaired aside from the direct effects of the delusions. 2) There are several subtypes of delusional disorder based on the content of the delusions, including erotomanic, grandiose, jealous, and persecutory delusions. 3) Delusional disorder is difficult to treat and often does not improve with antipsychotic medication alone. Treatment involves psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy and family therapy, along with medication in some cases.

Uploaded by

Najm Us Saqib Bhat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

Delusional Disorder

Patients with delusional disorder, like many people with


schizophrenia, hold beliefs that are considered false and
absurd by those around them.

Unlike individuals with schizophrenia, however, people given the diagnosis of


delusional disorder may otherwise behave quite normally. Their behavior does not
show the gross disorganization and performance deficiencies characteristic of
schizophrenia, and general behavioral deterioration is rarely observed in this
disorder, even when it proves chronic.

Symptoms
DSM 5
1. The individual has one or more delusions that persists at least a month or more.
2. Criterion A for schizophrenia is not and never has been met. Non-prominent
hallucinations and odd behaviors related to the delusional theme may be present.
3. Aside from the delusion(s) direct effects, functioning is not obviously impaired, or
is noticeably strange.
4. Any manic or major depressive episodes have been brief, compared to the length
of the delusional period.

5. The disturbance can not be attributed to the physiological effects of a substance,


another medical condition, or another mental disorder such as body-dysmorphi or
OCD.

Prevalence:
Rare, not sure about prevalence/percentage. 
affecting 24 to 30 people out of every 100,000 people (.3%). DSM 5- .02%
Late onset average age 40-49, 25-45

Types:
Based on which delusional theme is prominent, clinicians diagnose these individuals
with one of five major types of disorder, or with mixed or unspecified types that
include people who have no one prominent delusion

Erotomanic- People with the erotomanic type of delusional

Delusional Disorder 1
disorder falsely believe that another person is in love with them.
The target of their delusion is usually a person of higher status than they are.
For example, a woman may be certain that a famous singer is in love with her and
that he communicates secret love messages to her in his songs.
Grandiose- The conviction that they possess special and extremely favorable
personal qualities and abilities characterizes people who have the grandiose type of
delusional disorder.
A man may believe that he is the Messiah waiting for a sign from heaven to begin his
active ministry.

Jealous- In the jealous type of delusional disorder, individuals are certain their
romantic partner is unfaithful to them. They may even construct a plan to entrap their
partner to prove his or her infidelity.
Persecutory- People with the persecutory type of delusional disorder believe that
someone close to them is treating them in a malevolent manner. They may, for
example, become convinced that their neighbors are deliberately poisoning their
water.

Somatic (physical defect or medical problem)- People with the somatic type of
delusional disorder believe they have a medical condition causing an abnormal
bodily reaction that does not actually exist.

Mixed/Unspecified

DSM-5 have removed the distinction between delusional disorder and shared
delusional disorder.

The persecutory and jealous types of delusional disorder are more common in
people assigned male at birth (AMAB), and the erotomanic type is more common in
people assigned female at birth (AFAB).

In previous edition, it was non-bizarre. 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
Bizarre delusions, such as detachment or liquefaction of body parts, can now be
identified as manifestation of delusional disorder if they can not be better explained
by conditions such as body dysmorphic disorder of OCD.

Diagnosis if stable but some develop schizophrenia.

Familial relationship with both schizophrenia and schizotypal personality disorder.

Delusional Disorder 2
Rarely contact mental health professionals- when life becomes disruptive.

Etiology
Delusional disorder is not well studied relative to other psychotic disorders, such as
schizophrenia.

Biological:
genetic- delusional disorder is more common in people who have family
members with delusional disorder or schizophrenia.
Other disorders- abuse of amphetamines, alcohol, and cocaine, brain tumours,
Huntington’s disease, and Alzheimer disease.
Other- reduced blood flow in the temporal and parietal lobes in the brain.
Lesions of the basal ganglia and temporal lobe

Psychological:
social isolation or stressful experience such as immigration.

Cameron (1959)- process of building up as a pseudo (paranoid psuedo-


community).
So basically people who are lacking in social skills and become paranoid when
faced with stressful social situations by creating a psuedo-community in his/her
mind, people of this community are out to get him/her and then the way he/she
reacts to these perceived slights and attacks lead him/her into conflict with the
actual society leading to more stressful situations and so on.
Selectively attend to some information

Cognitive-bias model: is a defence against thoughts that threaten the idealized


self, to protect a fragile self-esteem. 

Positive-self; negative- others.

Cognitive-deficits model: focus on cognitive impairments and distortions of threat


evaluating mechanisms as the cause.

Treatment
Treatment for delusional disorder most often includes psychotherapy (talk therapy)
and medication, but delusional disorder is highly resistant to treatment with
medication alone.

People with delusional disorder often don’t seek treatment for the condition on their
own because most people with delusional disorder don’t realize their delusions are

Delusional Disorder 3
problematic or incorrect. It’s more likely they’ll seek help due to other mental health
conditions such as depression or anxiety.

1966-1985, 1000 patients, recovery with antipsychotic drugs in 52.6%, and


improvement in 28.2%; 19.2% did not improve.
Anti depressant is occasionally effective with somatic delusions
Supportive psychotherapy: CBT, Socratic questioning, not too early in treatment, if
done early, patient will become paranoid about the therapy and the therapist and quit
therapy.
Family therapy- treatment involves psychoeducation regarding delusional disorder,
communication improvement training and problem-solving skills training.

Training in behavioural skills and social skills

Delusional Disorder 4

You might also like