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Delusional Disorder
Delusional disorder is a psychotic mental illness where a person holds one or more delusions in the absence of any other signs or symptoms of other mental illnesses. For example, a person with delusional disorder has never met any other symptoms for schizophrenia and does not have any marked hallucinations, although touch or smell hallucinations may be present if they are related to the theme of the delusion. Delusional disorder does not affect a person’s functional life entirely; they can still function normally and tend to not show any odd behavior unless it is from their delusional beliefs.
Several types of delusional disorder
• Erotomanic Type : delusion that another person, usually a higher social status, is in love with the individual.
• Grandiose Type: delusion of inflated worth, power, knowledge, identity, or special relationship to a deity or famous person
• Jealous Type: delusion that the individual's sexual partner is unfaithful.
• Persecutory Type: delusion that the person (or someone to whom the person is close) is being unkindly treated in some way.
• Somatic Type: delusions that the person has some physical defect or general medical condition
A diagnosis of 'mixed type' or 'unspecified type' may also be given if the delusions fall into several or none of these categories.
Causes and Symptoms
1. The person expresses an idea or belief with unusual persistence.
2. When something altering or traumatic to ones life, the delusion appears. The individual tends to be humorless and oversensitive, especially about the belief.
3. No matter how strange the person’s delusion is, they still accept it unquestionably.
4. An attempt to contradict the belief is likely to arouse an inappropriately strong emotional reaction, often with irritability and hostility.
5. The person is emotionally really believes the delusion that it tends to overwhelm...