Delusions & Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a serious mental health condition that may require lifelong support from mental health practitioners. Schizophrenia is a thought disorder and impacts the way folks interpret and understand the world around them. It is best treated with a combination of medication and therapeutic support.
Folks living with schizophrenia often have some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking that cause impairment in life.
A delusion is a belief that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality, a rational argument, or indisputable evidence to the contrary.
Delusions are a very common amongst folks living with schizophrenia. Delusions can be bizarre, involving an impossible situation, or non-bizarre, involving a possible situation.
Types of Delusions:
Persecutory Delusion: The most common delusion seen in folks living with schizophrenia. The person impacted fears they are being stalked, spied on, obstructed, poisoned, conspired against, or harassed by individuals or an organization. Related to persecutory delusions are
Delusions of being controlled characterized by a belief or thought that others are controlling your thoughts or feelings.
Thought Insertion: Belief that someone or an external force is inserting their thoughts into your own.
Thought Broadcasting: Belief that your thoughts are being broadcast and that people are noticing and can either hear or see them.
Delusion of Reference: Belief that everyday events have an unusual personal significance.
Grandiose Delusion: False belief that one has great power, fame, knowledge, or talent and often are more powerful than other people
Somatic Delusions: Belief that folks have a health defect or are being affected by physical illness or illnesses
Erotomania: When someone imagines that someone is in love with them
Delusional Jealousy: Involves feelings or beliefs that one's partner is being unfaithful despite a lack of evidence to support those beliefs and feelings
How PSR can help:
Sanare's co-founders Briana Severine and Ali Pierucci have years of experience working with folks living with schizophrenia, and our entire staff have a passion and commitment to working with these clients on symptom management, with the goal of improving their quality of life.
Because we work with folks in their homes and in the community, we can help them when they are experiencing delusions. For example, we help our client's navigate appointments related to medical and housing needs. We can reality test with a client right in the moment by sharing what we are experiencing and or giving them examples of evidence from our experience with them and their symptoms over time. We can also provide valuable psychoeducation to the client and their family/support system defining and identifying these symptoms. Understanding their delusions can help clients gain insight. Insight, our capacity to gain understanding can help folks manage delusions if even just to understand that there is difference between their experience of the world and those around them. Our staff take time and care to build rapport with clients and employ interventions around delusions respectfully and thoughtfully to work with the client where they are at. Some of our clients experiencing delusions may just need help getting to and from appointments, organizing their living space, or grocery shopping. Understanding and working with delusions compassionately helps us individualize our treatment
