What is a delusion—and when does a fixed false belief become a disorder in its own right? Delusion Illness to Delusional Schizophrenia, Exploring Types and Characteristics offers the first comprehensive, integrative guide to delusional disorder, one of psychiatry's most misunderstood conditions. Blending clinical expertise with lived experience, the book explores the full spectrum of delusion illness—from circumscribed paranoid beliefs to the overlap with delusional schizophrenia—and provides a clinical tour of the types of delusions that define this complex diagnosis.
Drawing on best-selling memoirs, pioneering research, and decades of clinical wisdom, this volume traces the history of diagnostic boundaries, from Kraepelin's paranoia to today's dimensional models. It details the characteristics of delusional disorder, including the non-bizarre criterion, preserved functioning, and islands of insight, and offers practical guidance on pharmacotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, family intervention, and forensic considerations.
Centering the voices of individuals like Elyn Saks and Esme Weijun Wang, the book illuminates the terror, isolation, and hard-won recovery of living with fixed false beliefs. It addresses families, cultural humility, and the ethical complexities of involuntary treatment—always returning to the person behind the delusion.
For clinicians, trainees, families, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding, this book delivers rigorous science with deep humanity. Delusional disorder is real. But the person who holds it is always more.
