A delusion is commonly defined as a fixed false belief and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false, fanciful or derived from deception. In psychiatry, the definition is necessarily more precise and implies that the belief is pathological (the result of an illness or illness process). Delusions typically occur in the context of neurological or mental illness, although they are not tied to any particular disease and have been found to occur in the context of many pathological states (both physical a ...

Including:

• Delusion - Psychiatric definition
• Delusion - Primary and Secondary Delusions
• Delusion - Diagnostic issues

Read more here: » Delusion: Encyclopedia - Delusion

delusion: Moha. False belief, misconception.

(See also: Delusion, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

Jaspers originally made a distinction between primary and secondary delusions. According to Jaspers, primary delusions (sometimes called true delusions) are distinguished by a transformation of meaning, so that the world, or aspects of it, are interpreted in a radically different way by the delusional person. To others, this interpretation is 'un-understandable' in terms of the normal mental causality, mood, environmental influences and other psychological or psychopathological factors. Jaspers describes four types of primary delusion ...

See also:

Delusion, Delusion - Psychiatric definition, Delusion - Primary and Secondary Delusions, Delusion - Diagnostic issues

Read more here: » Delusion: Encyclopedia II - Delusion - Primary and Secondary Delusions

The Capgras delusion or Capgras' syndrome is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that an acquaintance, usually a close family member or spouse, has been replaced by an identical looking imposter. Capgras delusion is classed as a delusional misidentification syndrome, a class of delusional beliefs that involves the misidentification of people, places or objects. Additionally Capgras delusion is termed a monothematic delusion because it has been sh ...

Including:

• Capgras delusion - Overview
• Capgras delusion - Causes
• Capgras delusion - In fiction

Read more here: » Capgras delusion: Encyclopedia - Capgras delusion

The Cotard delusion or Cotard's syndrome is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost his blood or internal organs. It is named after Jules Cotard (1840 - 1889) a French neurologist who first described the condition, which he called le délire de négation ("negation delirium"), in a lecture in Paris in 1880. In this lecture, Cotard described a patient with the moniker of Mademoiselle X, who denied the existence of God, the Devil, several parts of her body and denied she needed to eat. Later she believed she was ete ...

Read more here: » Cotard delusion: Encyclopedia - Cotard delusion

 We can be drawn into others people's consequences by giving consent to their actions or by judging their behavior. The energy field that links us together works on all levels, spiritual through physical. We constantly put out energy for the approval or disapproval of our friends and family. When energy in any form comes to you from another person, the judgment you put on it ties you to it, regardless of type of judgment made.

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Hindu Quotes: Genesis of Woeful Births

The delusion which mistakes the unreal for the Real

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(See also: Hinduism Archives, Hindu Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Love Quotes, Friendship Quotes, Life Quotes)

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However, the modern definition and Jaspers's original criteria have been criticised, as counter-examples can be shown for every defining feature. Studies on psychiatric patients have shown that delusions can be seen to vary in intensity and conviction over time which suggests that certainty and incorrigibility are not necessary components of a delusional belief ^{See also:}

Delusion, Delusion - Psychiatric definition, Delusion - Primary and Secondary Delusions, Delusion - Diagnostic issues

Read more here: » Delusion: Encyclopedia II - Delusion - Diagnostic issues

Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for mental states in which the components of rational thought and perception are severely impaired. Persons experiencing a psychosis may experience hallucinations, hold delusional beliefs (e.g. paranoid delusions), demonstrate personality changes and exhibit disorganized thinking (see thought disorder). This is often accompanied by lack of insight into the unusual or bizarre nature of such behavior, difficulties with social interaction and impairments in carrying out the activities of daily livi ...

Including:

• Psychosis - Overview
• Psychosis - Psychotic experience
• Psychosis - Hallucinations
• Psychosis - Delusions and paranoia
• Psychosis - Thought disorder
• Psychosis - Lack of insight
• Psychosis - Medical understanding of psychosis
• Psychosis - Psychosis and brain function
• Psychosis - Cannabis and psychosis
• Psychosis - Non-psychiatric conditions and psychosis

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Clinical lycanthropy is a psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusional belief that the affected person is, or has, transformed into an animal. It is named after the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which people are said to physically shapeshift into werewolves. The word zoanthropy is also sometimes used for the delusion that one has turned into an animal in general and not specifically a wolf. Clinical lycanthropy - Symptoms. Affected individuals report a delusional ...

Including:

• Clinical lycanthropy - Symptoms
• Clinical lycanthropy - Proposed mechanisms
• Clinical lycanthropy - Neurological factors
• Clinical lycanthropy - Cultural contributions

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Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness characterized by persistent defects in the perception or expression of reality. A person experiencing untreated schizophrenia typically demonstrates grossly disorganized thinking, and may also experience delusions or auditory hallucinations. Although the illness primarily affects cognition, it can also contribute to chronic problems with behavior or emotions. Due to the many possible combinations of symptoms, it is difficult to say whether it is in fact a single psychiatric disorder; and Eugen Bleuler deliberately called the disease "the schizo ...

Including:

• Schizophrenia - Overview
• Schizophrenia - History
• Schizophrenia - Diagnosis
• Schizophrenia - Criteria signs and symptoms
• Schizophrenia - Subtypes
• Schizophrenia - Presentation
• Schizophrenia - Diagnostic issues and controversies
• Schizophrenia - Causes
• Schizophrenia - Genetic and environmental influences
• Schizophrenia - Neurobiological influences
• Schizophrenia - Incidence and prevalence
• Schizophrenia - Treatment
• Schizophrenia - Medication and hospitalization
• Schizophrenia - Therapy and community support
• Schizophrenia - Prognosis
• Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia and drug use
• Schizophrenia - Hallucinogens
• Schizophrenia - Cannabis
• Schizophrenia - Tobacco
• Schizophrenia - Schizophrenia and violence
• Schizophrenia - Violence perpetrated by people with schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia - Violence against people with schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia - Alternative approaches to schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia - Notable people affected by schizophrenia
• Schizophrenia - General reading

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An illusion is a distortion of a sensory perception. Each of the human senses can be deceived by illusions, but visual illusions are the most well known. Some illusions are subjective; different people may experience an illusion differently, or not at all. Optical illusions, such the use of false perspective, exploit assumptions made by the human visual system. Mirages are optical distortions through the atmosphere that may be photographed. While the perceived reality (such as water in the desert) is illusory, th ...

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Cognitive neuropsychiatry is a sub-discipline of psychology and psychiatry that aims to understand mental illness and psychopathology in terms of models of normal psychological function. It is also a way of uncovering normal psychological processes by studying the effects of their change or impairment. It is derived from the fields of psychiatry, cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive neuropsychology. It is a relatively new discipline and only started in earnest in the 1990s but has been influential, not least because of its ear ...

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Telepathy, from the Greek τηλε, tele, "distant", and πάθεια, patheia, "feeling", is the claimed innate ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. Considered a form of extra-sensory perception or anomalous cognition, telepathy is often connected to various paranormal phenomena ...

Including:

• Telepathy - Telepathy in history
• Telepathy - Recent experiments
• Telepathy - Telepathy and science
• Telepathy - Quantum mechanics
• Telepathy - Technologically-assisted telepathy
• Telepathy - Telepathic communication between humans and animals
• Telepathy - Delusions of telepathy
• Telepathy - Telepathy in fiction

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A hallucination is a sensory perception experienced in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. Hallucinations may occur in any sensory modality - visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, or mixed. Hallucination - Origins of the word. The word 'hallucinatory' has its roots in the Latin hallucinere or allucinere, meaning 'to wander in mind'. Altenatively in the Greek Including:

• Hallucination - Origins of the word
• Hallucination - Possible causes

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In popular culture, the term paranoia is usually used to describe excessive concern about one's own well-being, sometimes suggesting a person holds persecutory beliefs concerning a threat to themselves or their property and is often linked to a belief in conspiracy theories. In psychiatry, the term paranoia was used by Emil Kraepelin to describe a mental illness in which a delusional belief is the sole, or most prominent feature. This usage is now largely obsolete and the term is more typically used in a general sense to ...

Including:

• Paranoia - Use in psychiatry
• Paranoia - Examples of clinical paranoia
• Paranoia - Paranoia depicted in popular culture

Read more here: » Paranoia: Encyclopedia - Paranoia

Erotomania is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that another person, usually of a higher social status, is in love with them. Erotomania is also called de Clerambault's syndrome, after the French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clerambault (1872 - 1934) who published a comprehensive review paper on the subject (Les Psychoses Passionelles) in 1921. Erotomania - History. Early references to the condition can be found in the work of Hippocrates, Erasistratus, Pluta ...

Including:

• Erotomania - History
• Erotomania - Contemporary syndrome
• Erotomania - Erotomania in fiction

Read more here: » Erotomania: Encyclopedia - Erotomania

Belief in the psychological sense, is a representational mental state that takes the form of a propositional attitude. In the religious sense, "belief" refers to a part of a wider spiritual or moral foundation, generally called faith; historically generated by a group's need to provide a functionally valid foundation to sustain them. The generally accepted faiths usually note that when oppressive states are generated by it being exercised, and not a fact of reality, it was ...

Including:

• Belief - Belief knowledge and epistemology
• Belief - Belief as a psychological theory
• Belief - Is belief voluntary?
• Belief - Delusional beliefs

Read more here: » Belief: Encyclopedia - Belief

There is strong neuropsychological evidence that the Capgras delusion is, at least in part, related to a loss of emotional response to familiar faces. This is in the context of generally good (although not always perfectly intact) face perception abilities. This seems to be the reverse of prosopagnosia, a condition where conscious face recognition abilities are lost, despite sufferers still showing a covert emotional response to familiar faces, detectable b ...

See also:

Capgras delusion, Capgras delusion - Overview, Capgras delusion - Causes, Capgras delusion - In fiction

Read more here: » Capgras delusion: Encyclopedia II - Capgras delusion - Causes

Delusion (Ignorance)

"Delusion refers to belief in something that contradicts reality. In Buddhism, delusion is ... a lack of awareness of the true nature or Buddha nature of things, or of the true meaning of existence. "

According to the Buddhist outlook, we are deluded by our senses-- among which intellect (discriminating, discursive thought) is included as a sixth sense.

Consciousness, attached to the senses, leads us into error by causing us to take the world of appearances for the world of reality, whereas in fact it is only a limited and fleeting aspect of reality." (The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.)

 (See also: Delusion (Ignorance, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)