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Phenomenological Aspects of Monodelusional Disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

Alistair Munro*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Camp Hill Hospital, 1765 Robie Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3G2

Extract

The monodelusional disorders correspond closely to the Kraepelinian description of paranoia (Kraepelin, 1921), and to the DSM—III—R category of “delusional (paranoid) disorder” (American Psychiatric Association, 1987). The essential feature is a stable delusional system, and the encapsulated quality of the delusion is characteristic. The rest of the personality is notably well preserved, but the delusional system, despite its encapsulation, takes over much of the individual's way of life. There are profound and striking secondary changes in affect, attitude and logic when the patient switches from the normal to the delusional mode or vice versa.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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