The symptoms of addiction and mental health issues include delusional thoughts and actions. If you live in a place that has prevalent homelessness, you may see people walking around thinking they are talking to someone other than themselves; you may see them doing bizarre actions that make you feel afraid for their well-being. What you may perceive as the conditions of street life could also be exacerbated by their drug and alcohol consumption.
The thing to consider is that you do not have to be homeless to have delusional thinking or behavior. One can become neurotic or paranoid from excessive drug and alcohol use or the onset of mental health issues from physical, mental, and environmental trauma or abuse. Delusion disorders, which were once called paranoid disorders, do exist in small numbers and can be combated with professional help.
How is a delusional disorder classified?
Having delusions does not include hallucinations with a delusional disorder. Rather, some sort of psychosis takes place which is classified into subtypes, making these disorders easier to analyze. Deciphering whether a person being diagnosed with a delusional disorder is somatic, persecutory, grandiose, jealous, erotomanic, or a mixture of subtypes can help to proceed with treating them.
What do the subtypes mean?
Somatic means that a person believes they have an illness of some type when they have no real proof. Persecutory includes delusions that they are going to be victimized in one way or another. Grandiose delusions consist of thinking they are powerful in their social status and convinced they are skilled in ways they are not. Jealous takes on the form in insistent questioning of a spouse or a significant other regarding their faithfulness to the person with the delusion. Erotomanic allows someone to whole-heartedly believe that a celebrity, or someone in popular social standings, is in love with them when they may not have ever met them before. Some people may have two or more of these subtypes at one time or another which is simply called a mixed subtype.
Delusional disorders still happen to people, and while there is medication to treat them, it can sometimes have an adverse effect. The main treatment that is used for a delusional disorder is psychotherapy, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and holistic therapies that help calm a person. Changing the thinking behind the behavior is key to helping minimize ongoing delusions.
Offering a full range of recovery and mental health services, Valiant Living offers “Expanded Recovery” to enrich our clients’ lives in mind, body, and spirit. Through evidence-based therapy options and the endless adventure of Colorado, Valiant fosters connection, encouraging clients to get connected to themselves, their peers, their families, and their higher power. With the power of recovery, clients are restored to full health and experience life-changing healing. Call us today for more information: 303-536-5463
