Delusion Types

There are several subtypes of delusional disorders and some of these include:

Persecutory delusion
This is the most common form of delusional disorder. In this form, the affected person fears they are being stalked, spied upon, obstructed, poisoned, conspired against or harassed by other individuals or an organization. As a result, the sufferer may retaliate violently against the persecution and/or turn to the law and other government agencies for support.

Delusion of grandeur
In this form of delusion, the person believes they are much greater or more influential than they really are. For example, they may be convinced they have an exceptional talent, extravagant riches or a special relationship with a prominent person.

Delusional jealousy
This usually develops due to a fear that a spouse or partner is being unfaithful. These doubts may be unfounded and can cause severe damage to the relationship. The sufferer usually goes to great lengths to try and find evidence of their partner’s alleged “affairs” and may also resort to a third party such as a private detective to find such evidence. Studies have shown that this form of delusion is more common in men than in women. It is sometimes called morbid jealousy or pathological jealousy.

Erotomania or delusion of love
In this form of delusion, the patient is often firmly convinced that a person he or she is fixated upon is in love with them. This obsession leads to stalking, unnatural jealousy and rage when the object of their affection is seen with their spouse or partners. Erotomanis often concern a famous person or someone who is in a superior status and usually there is no contact between the patient and the victim, who has never encouraged the patient. Erotomanic delusional disorder is also referred to as De Clerambault’s Syndrome.

Somatic delusional disorder
In this disorder, a person is convinced something is wrong with them. This type of delusion may often lead to multiple consultations with physicians, surgical procedures, depression and even suicide. Some individuals may also develop tactile hallucinations and feel the sensation of insects or parasites crawling over their skin. This is called monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis and forms part of somatic delusional disorder.

Induced delusional disorder or folie a’ deux
This is a rare form of delusion where two people who are usually in a close relationship, are completely isolated from others physically and culturally and share the same delusional system of grandeur or persecution, for example. One of the partners may be the dominant personality who influences the weaker personality into adopting the delusion, in which case the psychosis mainly affects the dominant person, with the other rapidly recovering from the delusions once they are separated from them.

There are four categories of delusion and these include:

Bizarre delusion – Refers to delusion that is implausible or bizarre such as alien invasion

Non-bizarre delusion – Refers to delusion such as fear of being followed

Mood-congruent delusions – This is delusion that is consistent with the depressed or manic state of the sufferer. For example, when depressed, a person may feel delusions of persecution and when feeling manic, they may feel delusions of grandeur.

Mood-neutral delusions that are not influenced by mood.

Further Reading

Last Updated: Jun 12, 2023

Dr. Ananya Mandal

Written by

Dr. Ananya Mandal

Dr. Ananya Mandal is a doctor by profession, lecturer by vocation and a medical writer by passion. She specialized in Clinical Pharmacology after her bachelor's (MBBS). For her, health communication is not just writing complicated reviews for professionals but making medical knowledge understandable and available to the general public as well.

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Comments

  1. Levitating Proutman Levitating Proutman United Kingdom says:

    The biggest delusion is Hyper-normality, most of the western world suffer from this on a mass scale. We have become detached from ourselves spiritually. Say what you want about religion but spirituality can be a key factor in people's lives without follows religion, Sam Harris has a book on it "Spirituality without religion. Psychosis is normally the tem used for a person who is experiencing delusions, yet psychiatry is any everyone else who has never experienced psychosis is seeing it from a third person perspective in which they can only judge by observation and label it as illness/disease/disorder. Psychosis/mania and the mind is a lot more complex than most psychiatrists think. A person with psychosis is experiencing a higher level of consciousness, same goes for mania. In shamanic tradition they induce these states and they call what we call psychosis; "the spirit world". When one is experiencing these higher states they are in a kind of spirit world, everything seems confusing to them and they become overwhelmed, thoughts become disordered because they do not know what they are experiencing. It takes a shaman up to 20 years to master these states, live and function within them and use them to their advantage. Bipolar in order also teaches people this.

  2. CJ Greenwood CJ Greenwood United States says:

    I'm about to break some shit down for you kind folks. I have schizophrenia, previously diagnosed with delusional disorder. The 2 symptoms that make me schizophrenic are delusions and disorganized behavior. I do not hallucinate or hear voices...

    I am observed 24 /7 by random people that I don't know. Average people with no special qualifications. Who get paid tax payer money to do nothing. Rather, they babysit me. By sitting on a couch in a separate apartment. I have no choice in the matter.

    All because I have had about 7 psychotic episodes and pulled stunts on 3 separate occasions that should have got me life in prison.

    Smart? Ya, I guess I would say that in a psychosis it is like processing larger amounts of information at once. But more is that its like when you can consider more at once the possibilities of how reality folds out grow exponentially.

    It's easy to get lost and when the picture gets bigger. Or your ability to see the picture enhances. Even easier.

    Information is constantly being compacted and reduced into what needs to be more and more efficient forms.

    There is not enough time in existence to relive the past in its entirety. We get flashes. That invoke emotions. And we ride that emotional high nostalgically.

    Visions, are like a compact memory. They come in flashes. I've had visions. And it's amazing how it's like an entire scene of a movie flashes in a split second, and it's so full of detail. When you go to describe it it takes minutes. Of what just happened in a split second.

    This is mysticism. Magic unfolding from the vision. Life constantly being compressed. And then with visions. A compressed bit of information unfolding them individually of the gifted.

    T what extent? And why does it matter? ,,, it doesn't...

    Unless you want it to. Then I guess it's on you...


    To decide.

    Why die when we were never alive to begin with.

    To infinity, and beyond.

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
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