Mental Health Perspectives
Here’s the Role of Reality in Our Mental Health.
Perspectives on recognizing delusions and hallucinations
Introduction
Staying in touch with reality plays a critical role in our mental health. The way we deal with reality determines our mental health. Distinguishing between real and imagined is a fundamental skill for mental health. Sometimes in certain situations, it might be challenging to find the difference between reality and imagination. However, we use evidence as a mechanism to deal with this situation.
Defining reality is not easy. However, we have a natural capability of understanding it. One way of understanding reality is by comparing the concepts of existence with imagination.
However, as humans, our thoughts, as imagined once, turn into reality. We manifest outcomes first by thinking about them then we create emotions. Notably, neuropsychiatric disturbances go beyond thoughts and emotions.
People ask whether this is real or imagined when judging facts and truth. We primarily use our five senses and logic. However, there are real things that we cannot see, smell, touch, taste, or hear.
There are even things beyond logic that our intellect cannot comprehend. We created various ways and tools to recognize them. For example, we use a microscope to see a virus or a molecule. We use specific tools to deal with electricity or radio waves.
Knowing and believing are key points in staying in the reality zone. However, our knowledge is limited. When we don’t know, we fill in the gaps with belief. How we know what we know might differ. However, as human beings, we have common capabilities. Medical professionals use various methods, such as physical tests and observations, to detect abnormalities.
From a scientific perspective, it is explained using two broad modalities, afferent (sensory) and efferent (motor). There are subcategories of these two important terms. This neurological phenomenon is a complex topic, and we don’t need to know details to remain in the reality zone. Nevertheless, if you are interested to learn more about these neural modalities, you can check this informative and educative video.
Let me briefly introduce two key terms — delusions and hallucinations — within the psychosis context as a pathological condition.
Delusions
From the review of the literature, I came across several common types of delusions. I introduce them under six broad categories: paranoid, somatic, grandiose, reference, control, and depressive delusions.
1 — Paranoid delusions are common. People experiencing paranoia live with suspicion. They assume they are being threatened. This assumption happens in the form of thinking and feeling. Thoughts and feelings are interrelated. For example, people with paranoid delusions feel that they are being watched for the wrong reasons.
2 — Somatic delusions relate to the body. It relates to false beliefs such as without having a major disease, they imagine it. For example, a person might feel like his body is invaded by cancer cells even though he has no cancer sign. In extreme cases, people who experience this somatic delusion feel like a part of their body is missing.
3 — Grandiose delusions are observed in overconfident people. These are ordinary people, but they think that they have unique or extraordinary power. For example, a person might think he has the power of magic to see the future or bring news from the past.
4 — Reference delusions are related to grandiose delusions. It is a specific form. In this delusion, people don’t have too much power, but they assert getting unique messages from media, press, and other information outlets that other people cannot.
5 — Control delusions refer to beliefs being controlled by other powers. People who experience these types of delusions believe to be controlled by formidable people, imaginary figures, past heroes, magicians, devils, or aliens.
6 — Depressive delusions mainly relate to the emotion of guilt. People experiencing depressive delusions feel that they caused a crime, such as stealing something or killing somebody, even though they haven’t committed any of these crimes.
I provided these six common ones to give you an idea of understanding delusions. Of course, delusions might manifest in various other forms as well. Extreme jealousy without any evidence of infidelity is a good example.
In a nutshell, delusions are false beliefs that other people do not share. Moreover, those disproportionate beliefs are very distorted and robust even though no evidence can support them. Thus, delusions are a component of psychosis.
Hallucinations
Related to delusions, we also need to understand another psychotic condition called hallucination.
This condition relates to more senses such as hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling. People have these senses which are not in reality.
For example, no one smells anything in a group, but a person hallucinating might smell awful things to change their behavior significantly.
An Overview of Delusions and Hallucinations in Mental Health
People experiencing delusions and hallucinations might show noticeable signs. For example, they feel strange, have mood swings, hide their emotions, lose motivation, put distance from others, remain detached, or prefer total isolation from the world.
Delusions and hallucinations, part of psychosis, relate to three major mental health diseases. They are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychotic depression. Delusions and hallucinations also happen in drug use or severe medication use.
However, as pointed out in this paper, “psychosis is identified as only one of several dimensions of neuropsychiatric disturbance in these disorders, with others encompassing abnormal psychomotor behaviors, negative symptoms, cognitive impairments, and emotional disturbances. This dimensional approach regards hallucinations and delusions as arising from neural systems subserving perception and information processing”.
Commonly known causes of delusions and hallucinations are neurochemical imbalances, genetic predispositions, severe anxiety, chronic stress (emotional, psychological, or social), and environmental factors such as toxins.
Mental health professionals use various methods to detect and treat patients experiencing delusions and hallucinations. They observe and test patients for abnormalities. The most common way is using anti-psychotic medication to maintain neurochemical balance. Treatment of delusions and hallucinations is essential. When untreated, they may prevail lifetime.
There are other approaches such as psychotherapy, family therapy, counseling, social support, and skill-building. In addition, professionals assist with lifestyle changes such as stopping drug use and other risky behaviors. They also guide in gaining healthy habits.
As this scientific paper points out, “it is argued that in many cases delusions are a direct representation of emotional concerns, and that emotion contributes to delusion formation and maintenance. The content of hallucinations less often directly expresses the emotional concerns of the individual, but emotion can trigger and contribute to the maintenance of hallucinatory phenomena, although how this occurs is not well understood.”
Final Thoughts
Reality plays a crucial role in mental health. When people fail to recognize accepted reality and stay away from it, they confuse reality with imagination. Thus, they experience psychotic situations like delusions and hallucinations with strong contradictory evidence against reality.
People with no psychotic symptoms usually have a good grasp of reality using various sensory and cognitive capabilities.
However, sometimes when we are tired, disappointed, or sleep-deprived, we see things differently. We also interpret situations differently, such as more negative, more exaggerated, or even more ambiguous. These mildly distorted perceptions and interpretations are not necessarily pathological delusions.
The key term in recognizing psychotic symptoms is “evidence”. If a person feels and thinks in ways others cannot deal with, no evidence, it is usually recognized by professionals or caregivers.
However, the reality is also relative and depends on various factors. We are all unique and perceive things differently. Nevertheless, we also have a lot in common. Some of us might have extrasensory and cognitive capabilities. Those individuals with exceptional abilities are not necessarily delusional or hallucinatory.
I believe in the fine line between madness and genius. As quantum science and technology progress and new perception-enhancing tools emerge, we may need to redefine reality so that normal people are not diagnosed as delusional or hallucinating unreasonably.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers
Defeat Metabolic Syndrome and Slim Down Waistline with Three Tips
Why 442 Million People Live Diabetic and What We Can Do About it
Six Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Lower the Risks of Mental Disorders
What Can We Do About NCDs Killing 41 Million People Yearly?.
Reduce the Risks of Neonatal Disorders to Prevent Infant Mortality.
Reduce the Risks of Major Diseases with Healthy Lifestyle Habits
I also write about beneficial supplements and molecules to improve our metabolic and cognitive health, including:
Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.
Please note that this article is not health advice. I shared my perspectives for information purposes only. If you experience psychotic disorders or other mental health conditions, please consult your healthcare professionals.
Related Articles
Challenges of Dealing with Duality of Bipolar Disorder
Schizophrenia Might Affect Famous and Wealthy People Too
Why Anxiety Increases as We Age and What Can We Do About it?
About the Author
Thank you for subscribing to my content. I share my health and well-being stories in my publication, Euphoria. If you are new to Medium, you may join by following this link.
You can join my publications as a writer requesting access via this weblink.
I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis. I share important life lessons from people in my professional and social circles compiled in the attached collection.
