Delusion Of Grandeur: What It Is, Why It Can Appear And Related Disorders
If you know someone who believes they have superior intelligence or that their origins are special, they may have a delusion of grandeur. Come in and find out what it’s all about.
Surely you know or have known someone who believed themselves to be superior or special. Delusions of grandeur are not always the explanation for these beliefs, however, in some cases or psychological disorders they can appear.
Read on to discover what exactly delusions and delusions of grandeur are, what disorders they occur in, and what factors are related to their appearance.
The word delirium It comes from the Latin term delirare, which means to depart from the groove and this extrapolated to human thought could be understood as thinking outside the norm. In this sense, a delirium is characterized by being a fixed belief that despite finding evidence that contradicts this belief, the person continues to maintain it with great conviction. With this definition we can come to think that it would be synonymous with stubbornness, however, a delusion is not a simple belief but rather it maintains an interpretation of reality that is false and that is impossible to modify either through experiences or of reasoning.
Sometimes it is common for delirium to be confused with hallucination, but the main difference between the two is that the former is an error in interpretation and hallucination is an error in perception, that is, the person perceives stimuli that do not exist in the outside or perceives them in a distorted way.
Therefore, delusions (regardless of the type) are characterized by the following features:
Beliefs are held with absolute conviction and cannot be modified by experience or reason.
The person lives the belief as if it were an evident truth and this “truth” supposes a personal transcendence.
This interpretation is not shared by anyone else (neither socially nor culturally) and in fact, others usually see it as impossible.
The content of the delirium generates discomfort, significantly interfering with the person’s functioning (socially, professionally, etc.).
The person does not resist by not thinking about this belief (unlike obsessive ideas), that is, he does not make an effort to stop thinking about it.
Often the content is fantastic but there are some delusions that imply beliefs that could occur in reality, such as, for example, jealousy.
He delusions of greatness (also called megalomaniacal delirium ) is a type of delusional idea whose content implies an exaggerated valuation of the knowledge, importance, power or identity of the person who suffers from it. In other words, the person has a very high concept of himself, there are even people who suffer from this delusion and they believe they are god Although it could be confused with those who have high self-esteem, when a delusions of greatness The person believes that they have certain qualities or that they have achieved some achievements that do not really correspond even to reality. You can differentiate between two different subtypes:
Delusion of Grand Skill: In this case the content of delusions of greatness It would be related to the subject’s abilities believing that these are special or that they are related to a special mission.
Delusion of grandiose identity: On the other hand, in identity delusions, the person believes that he or she is extremely special and important. Here we could find the Mignon’s delusion in which the person believes that he is related to someone very important, the delusion of being God delusions centered on what is the chosen one etc.
Factors that influence the appearance of delusions
There are different risk factors for appearance of delusions However, just because a risk factor exists does not mean that the person will develop it. Like most psychological problems, there is no single cause for its appearance but rather it is due to a group of factors that vary according to their intensity, between subjects, importance, etc. Some of the factors that have been related are:
Unusual experiences: According to different authors, the delusions They can develop after the person has experienced an unusual situation and delirium would appear to make sense of this experience.
Lack of social skills: It has been found that the poor ability to understand the motivations of others, together with the social isolation that this may entail, can influence the appearance of extravagant ideas given that the person would not have the social context in which these ideas would be validated or rejected.
Sensory isolation: Just like the hallucinations sensory isolation, that is, being in a situation in which stimuli cannot be accessed either due to a disability such as, for example, hearing loss or due to social situations, increase the probability that the symptoms will appear. delusional ideas
Cognitive overload: Being hypervigilant, excessively motivated, prolonged concentration, etc. They are also aspects that influence the formation of delusions. In fact, some aspects such as hypervigilance and excessive motivation are symptoms of manic episodes, episodes in which delusions of grandeur
Delusions can occur in various disorders and not only in those that are psychotic. Specifically, the psychological disorders in which delusions may appear are the following:
Schizophrenia
Schizoaffective disorder
delusional disorder
Brief psychotic disorder
Schizophreniform disorder
Dementias
Substance use disorders
Bipolar disorder
Depression: Delusions can also appear in depressive disorders, although it is not common for them to appear. delusional ideas of greatness a but rather related to guilt, persecution, poverty, etc.
In addition, delusions can also appear during organic diseases such as, for example, multiple sclerosis, narcolepsy, etc., and infectious diseases such as malaria, syphilis, etc. or by drugs such as cortisone, amphetamines, among others.
Other types of delirium
There are different classifications of delusions depending on different criteria. When we take into account the content of the delirium that is, the delusional idea, some of the delusions that can be differentiated are the following:
Persecutory: This type of delusion is mainly based on the person believing that they are the victim of a conspiracy.
Jealousy: This type of delusion mainly affects the couple since the person believes that their partner is being unfaithful.
Nihilistic: In it nihilistic delirium, the person believes that himself (or some part), others or the world have ceased to exist. For example, one can believe that the world has ended even though there is no evidence to support this belief.
Of poverty: The person who suffers from this delusion firmly believes that he has lost or is going to lose all his material possessions.
Somatic or corporal: This type of delusion focuses on the idea that the person has about their own body or how it works. Some examples are the idea that one’s own body is empty, that some part is rotten, etc.
Reference: It is believed that objects, people or events have a specific meaning and for the most part the meaning given is not common. For example, a person may come to believe that what is said on the radio is directed especially at them and that depending on what is broadcast (music, program, etc.), it will have one meaning or another.
If controlled: It is believed that your own feelings, thoughts, impulses or actions are imposed by an external force.
Clerembault syndrome (also called delirium of love either erotomania ): In love delusions, the person believes that another person (usually famous) is in love with him or her.
If you believe that someone is suffering from delusions of grandeur or another type, it is important that you seek professional help since it is essential that the person be able to receive specialized care.
