delusion

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delusion

delusion, false belief based upon a misinterpretation of reality. It is not, like a hallucination, a false sensory perception, or like an illusion, a distorted perception. Delusions vary in intensity, and are not uncommon among substance abusers, particularly those who use amphetamines, cocaine, and hallucinogens. They also occur frequently among individuals who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, or schizophrenia, and during the manic stage of bipolar disorder (see depression). Some common delusions include persecutory delusions, in which the individual falsely believes that others are plotting against him; delusions of thought broadcasting, where the individual believes his thoughts can be transmitted to others; delusions of thought insertion, in which the individual believes that thoughts are being implanted in his mind; and delusions of grandeur, in which the individual imagines himself an unappreciated person of great importance.

delusion

[di′lüzh·ən]

(psychology)

A conviction based on faulty perceptions, feelings, and thinking.

Delusion

Borkman, John Gabriel

suffers from delusions of power. [Nor. Lit.: John Gabriel Borkman]

Bowles, Sally

night-club entertainer thinks she has the makings of a great film actress. [Br. Lit.: Isherwood Berlin Stories in Drabble, 498]

Clamence, Jean-Baptiste

living with his own good and evil. [Fr. Lit.: The Fall]

Dubois, Blanche

felt she and Mitch were above others. [Am. Lit.: A Streetcar Named Desire]

Jones, Brutus

self-styled island emperor experiences traumatic visions. [Am. Lit.: Emperor Jones]

Lockit, Lucy

steals jailer-father’s keys to free phony husband. [Br. Lit.: The Beggar’s Opera]

Pan, Peter

little boy, refuses to grow up; resides in Never Never Land. [Children’s Lit.: Peter Pan]

opium of the people

Marx’s classic metaphor for religion. [Ger. Hist.: Critique of Hegel’s “Philosophy of Right”]

ostrich

hides head, thinking itself concealed. [Animal Symbolism: Brewer Dictionary, 788]

delusion

Psychiatry a belief held in the face of evidence to the contrary, that is resistant to all reason

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

References in periodicals archive ?

ANDY McDonald's comment's 'Cameron is biggest Tory PM failure' (Letters, April 27) are delusionary. The Tory/ Lib Dem Coalition government headed by David Cameron has turned the UK economy around, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, rising wages and living standards.

Coalition is working; Letters letters@coventrytelegraph.net

In the run-up to the March 2015 elections, the Israeli electorate was disenfranchised when their prime minister played musical chairs with kindred far-right parties to the tune of primal and delusionary political and racial obscenities.

Racial Reconciliation and Prosperity

A skeptical explanation would of course be that hypnotizability together with dissociation enhances fantasy proneness, and paranormal experiences are merely a feature of this fantasy proneness leading to the delusionary belief of being psychic.

The jungle of hypnotic psi: part 2. Research on relationships between psi and hypnosis/La jungle du psi hypnotique: deuxieme partie. La recherche sur les relations entre le psi et l'hypnose/Der dschungel des hypnotischen psi: teil 2. Forschungen zu beziehungen zwischen psi und hypnose/La selva hipnotica de psi: parte 2. Investigacion sobre las relaciones entre psi e hipnosis

The "green rock" article detailed how delusionary geoengineering is.

LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG

These fleeting visions of the transient natural world constitute momentary interruptions of Edna's delusionary inner life: the disjunctive modes of seeing, one phenomenological and the other abstract and cerebral, help structure a story in which much of the represented world is invisible because of Edna's dominating consciousness.

Veiling and unveiling: Mansfield's modernist aesthetics

(And, yes, the latter does remind you of Kermit Gosnell's similar delusionary argument.)

Willie Parker's "Abortion Ministry"

And it should be clear that happiness for Barber in particular is more than a psychological state; Barber, like Socrates, would surely argue that it is delusionary to believe that one can be truly happy if one is committed to a life that rejects the importance of the "public good." (31) Similarly, a society committed to the "pursuit of [true] Happiness" (32) would reject mere preference satisfaction as the target of our pursuits.

The Fallacies of States' Rights

and be known?" The very notions of "home" and being "known" are themselves delusionary concepts like a self as separate from the moon.

Entering the "Gate of Nondualism": Gary Snyder's "On Vulture Peak" and Mahayana Shunyata

Too much time has now been misspent in 14 years of delusionary rhetoric and pusillanimity.

SCHOOL REPORT

In his inflammatory speech and in a delusionary manner, Hilal portrayed himself as peacemaker, a government reformist and an internationally respected leader.

Janjaweed leader Hilal and his search for a new tribal war in Darfur

"Some who are delusionary want to pounce on the January revolution and think that they can undermine the stability that is growing daily or undermine the resolve that people have clearly forged with their will," said Morsi.

Egypt cuts relations with Syrian government

Don't say something this delusionary; it not only discredits everything else you say, but what other gun rights activists say as well.