Normal
Delusions
Hallucinations
Confabulation
Distortions of body image
Disorientation
Magical thinking
Distress
The toxic effects of certain drugs
Delusions
Hallucinations: Hallucinations are false perceptions. The individual may see something or hear something that cannot be detected by others. Invisible companions, bugs crawling under the skin, the presence of dead friends or relatives, or the smell of nonexistent onions frying are all examples of hallucinations.
Confabulation: In confabulation, the troubled person answers a question with false information and ridicules the seriousness of situation. This is common in organic deterioration of the brain associated with such conditions as Alzheimer's disease or alcohol amnestic disorder.
Distortions of body image: People with delusions sometimes have distortions of body image. These can themselves be kinds of delusions. Persons with more or less normal bodies may think they are withered, shrunken, gigantic, misshapen, wrinkled or obese.
Disorientation: Disorientation suggests that the person is poorly oriented in time and space. Individuals displaying this condition may not know what day, month or year it is. They may not know where they live or how to find their way home.
Magical thinking: Magical thinking is characterized by a tendency to ignore the importance of natural causes and their effects.
Distress: Distress is commonly associated with delusions. There is a myth that mental patients are happy with their delusions, that they can provide an escape into a pleasant fantasy world. This can, of course, be true in some cases. However, it is more common for a patient to feel tormented and controlled by delusions, which the patient perceives as real and as beyond the control of his or her will. Consequently, the patient often feels like a victim of the delusions.
Normally some features like Obsession, Depressed Mood, Somatic or Sexual Dysfunction, Odd or Eccentric or Suspicious Personality are associated with delusions. Persons with delusions by definition believe their irrational ideas to be both real and true; therefore, they cannot be argued or reasoned out of them. They often struggle within themselves against delusions. In most of the cases, deranged persons are aware of their disturbance, aware either because it directly induces personal suffering or because they are made to suffer for it by others.
Also, it should be noted that the severity of delusions waxes and wanes. The cause of delusional disorder is not known. One of the principal mental disorders associated with delusions is characterized by illogical thinking; often there are signs and symptoms such as hallucinations. Apart, emotional wounds inflicted in early infancy like sexual abuse may aggravate the likelihood that the disorder will appear later in life. Delusional personalities are often found paranoid. Surrounding factors and conditions triggers such as going bankrupt, getting divorced or losing a loved one may be necessary reoccur the disorder.
The toxic effects of certain drugs can also induce delusions or delusional disorder. Irrational ideas are often present in the altered states of consciousness induced by such drugs as morphine and heroin. Psychedelics or hallucinogens have a tremendous ability to greatly alter normal brain process. Examples of these drugs are ketamin, mescaline, phencyclidine, LSD, psilocybin, hashish and cannabis. Finally, it should not be forgotten that alcohol is a drug. Not only can a person have delusions when intoxicated, delusions are a common symptom of delirium tremens, which is caused by withdrawal from a dependence on alcohol.