Delusional thoughts are false beliefs that are held with a high degree of conviction. These ideas are not founded on reality or evidence, and they frequently contradict the most fundamental facts. Understanding this style of thinking is necessary in order to spot it in yourself or others and take appropriate action. Let’s look at some examples of delusional ideas in more detail.
Types of Delusions
Persecutory delusions involve the belief that you are being pursued by someone. This could be manifested as a concern that the government is following your every move, that your coworkers are spying on you, or that someone is attempting to poison you. Similarly, grandiose delusions involve an excessive overestimation of one’s own skills, such as believing one has supernatural powers or can control the weather.
Referential delusions are characterized by the interpretation of random events as having special meaning for oneself, such as seeing messages in song lyrics or feeling that persons on television are speaking directly to them.
Finally, somatic delusions involve incorrect ideas about one’s own body, such as believing that one has a terrible medical illness despite doctors’ confirmation, or false beliefs about the body of another person, such as believing that someone has been replaced by an impostor.
Delusions vs. Intuition
It might be difficult to distinguish between regular intuition and delusional thinking because both can appear to be extremely real and convincing. While intuition tends to come from within yourself; it feels like that’s something you know instinctively, delusions come from outside sources and tend to feel imposed upon you rather than something that begins with you.
Furthermore, illusion entails leaping to conclusions in the absence of real data, whereas intuition is frequently based on a gut feeling or personal experience.