Delusional disorders are serious types of mental illness called “psychoses” in which the patient is unable to distinguish reality from his own fiction. The main symptoms of such disorders are the presence of absurd ideas in which a person is unconditionally confident. His beliefs are unshakable, although it is clear to those around them that they are false or delusional.
What is the patient going through?
A person who suffers from a delusional (paranoid) disorder often tells fictional stories that may seem truthful. The patient can describe situations that happen in real life. For example, a person constantly mentions the persecution, is confident in his exceptional importance, suspects the husband / wife of infidelity, speaks of someone plotting against him, etc. Such beliefs are mainly the result of a misinterpretation of the problem or perception. However, in real life, the above situations turn out to be untrue or extremely exaggerated. Delusional disorders may not interfere with human life. He often continues to be active in society, functions normally, and usually does not attract the attention of others with obviously strange and eccentric behavior. However, some cases were recorded when patients were completely dependent on their absurd ideas and their real lives were destroyed.
Symptoms of the disease
The most obvious sign of illness is the emergence of ideas that are absurd. But delusional disorders are also characterized by secondary symptoms. A person is often in a bad mood, mostly angry and irritable. In addition, hallucinations may occur that are directly related to delusional beliefs. The patient hears or sees those things that in reality do not exist. People with these disorders often fall into deep depression, which is the result of experienced imaginary difficulties. Patients can even earn themselves problems with the law. For example, if a patient suffers from a delirium of erotomania and does not allow an object of his phantasmagorias to pass, then he may well be arrested. In addition, a person with a delusional disorder can eventually leave the family or move away from his friends, as his crazy ideas interfere with loved ones and destroy relationships.
Dangerous disorder
Organic delusional (schizophrenic) disorder is quite rare, but it is extremely dangerous for the patient himself and for others. The most common cause of the development of this disease is epilepsy of the temporal part of the brain, as well as an infection provoked by encephalitis. Often, patients experience bouts of hallucinations and delusions, which can be supplemented by completely unmotivated actions, loss of control over bouts of aggression, as well as other types of instinctive behavior. The conditionality of the specifics of this psychosis is unclear. But, according to recent data, there are two reasons for the development of the disease: hereditary burden on both sides (epilepsy and schizophrenia) and damage to individual brain structures. Organic delusional disorder is characterized by the presence of hallucinatory-delusional pictures in the patient, which most often contain religious phantasmagoria.
Schizophrenia-like disorder and its features
The most serious and dangerous disease is schizophrenia. The delusional disorders associated with this disease are characterized by a certain course of thinking and perception. Basically, the patient does not have a clouding of consciousness or a decrease in intellectual abilities, but cognitive impairments may appear during the development of the disease. Disorders that are directly related to schizophrenia affect the main functions that help a person to feel their individuality and originality. As a rule, it seems to the patient that his most intimate thoughts have become known to anyone. In such cases, it is quite possible to develop explanatory nonsense, when the patient is confident in the existence of higher forces that can affect the thoughts and actions of the individual. Patients often position themselves as the center of everything that happens around. In addition, there are frequent cases of auditory hallucinations that comment on the patient's actions.
Types of delirium
Delusional schizophrenia-like disorder is characterized by delirium on one topic or systematized absurdity on different topics. The content of the patient's speeches can be very diverse. The most common cases are delusions of persecution, hypochondria, or greatness. But the patient’s fictitious beliefs can relate to problems such as jealousy, an ugly ugly body, a bad smell, etc. It may seem to a person that he smells bad, that his face inspires disgust for those around him. In addition, the patient can even be convinced that he is homosexual. Other symptoms may not occur, but depressive states are possible periodically.
Type of hallucinations
Delusional disorders are often characterized by the appearance of various kinds of hallucinations. They can be olfactory, tactile or auditory. Constant hallucinations, for example, voices in the patient’s head, are a symptom of a schizophrenic disorder. The patient may experience visual mirages. It may seem things or people that in real life do not exist. Tactile hallucinations are characterized by the fact that the patient does not correctly perceive objects to the touch. For example, cold can seem very hot. Auditory hallucinations are manifested in the fact that a person periodically hears voices that either comment on the real course of life, or indicate to the patient himself what exactly he needs to do.
Two subspecies of organic schizophrenia-like disorder
Organic delusional disorder has two types: acute and chronic. The first has the following main characteristics: sudden psychopathological symptoms, as well as sharp disturbances in the functioning of the brain, which may be the result of an acute infection or traumatic brain injury. The second type of organic disorder requires more detailed consideration.
Symptoms of a chronic disorder
Chronic delusional disorder has one main clinical symptom: manifestations of persistent delirium, which can last more than three months. This type of mental disorder is divided into three types: paranoid, paranoid and paraphrenic. The first syndrome is characterized by an established delusional system without the presence of hallucinations. Patients have false beliefs that form without internal conflict. With the development of this type of delirium, some changes in personality are observed. But there are no obvious signs of dementia, therefore, others perceive the patient as a completely adequate person. A patient suffering from paranoid syndrome has illogical and contradictory false ideas. Often hallucinations of an unstable nature are manifested. But in the course of the development of the disease, delirium can penetrate into all spheres of a person’s life and affect working and family relationships. Paraphrenia is characterized by a manifestation of obviously made-up delirium. This form of the disorder has the main symptom: false memories and pseudo-hallucinations.
Diagnostics
If there are obvious symptoms in the patient, the specialist examines the patient to determine the causes of the unhealthy disorder. Delusional mental disorders cannot be diagnosed with specific laboratory tests. To exclude physical illness as the cause of symptoms, specialists mainly use research methods such as radiography and blood composition analysis. If there is no obvious physical cause of the disease, the patient is referred to a psychiatrist or psychologist. Psychiatry doctors use specially designed interviews as well as evaluation programs. The therapist is based on the patient’s story about his condition and symptoms of the disease. In addition, he takes into account his personal observations regarding the patient's behavior. Further, the doctor determines whether a person has obvious symptoms of a mental disorder. In the event that a personality shows behavioral disorders for more than one month, the doctor diagnoses the patient with delusional mental disorder.
Treatment methods
There are two methods that can help cure delusional disorder. Treatment can be drug and psychotherapeutic. The first method is the use of antipsychotics that block dopamine receptors located in the brain. New drugs also affect the production of serotonin. If the patient suffers from depression, is constantly in a state of anxiety and depression, then he is prescribed antidepressants, and in some complex cases, tranquilizers. The second method has the following main goal: to switch the patient's attention from his false inventions to really happening things. Today, specialists prefer to use cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, with which the patient is able to make changes in their irrational thoughts that cause anxiety. In severe delusional disorder, the patient is placed in a hospital to stabilize the condition.