Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T05:05:24.476Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Acting on Delusions. II: The Phenomenological Correlates of Acting on Delusions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Alec Buchanan ,
Alison Reed ,
Simon Wessely ,
Philippa Garety ,
Pamela Taylor ,
Don Grubin  and
Graham Dunn
Alec Buchanan
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry
Alison Reed
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry
Simon Wessely*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS
Philippa Garety
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry
Pamela Taylor
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF
Don Grubin
Affiliation:
Department of Forensic Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry
Graham Dunn
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics and Computing, Institute of Psychiatry
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify the phenomenological characteristics of those delusions which are associated with action. The sample consisted of 79 patients admitted to a general psychiatric ward, each of whom described at least one delusional belief. The variables studied included the phenomenology of the delusions, and behaviour. Two behavioural ratings were used, one derived from the subjects' own description of their behaviour and the other from information provided by informants. There was no association between delusional phenomenology and acting on a delusion when the subjects' behaviour was described by informants. When action was described by the subjects themselves, acting was associated with: being aware of evidence which supported the belief and with having actively sought out such evidence; a tendency to reduce the conviction with which a belief was held when that belief was challenged; and with feeling sad, frightened or anxious as a consequence of the delusion.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 1 , July 1993 , pp. 77 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, E. & Trethowan, W. (1973) Psychiatry (3rd edn). London: Ballière, Tindall.Google Scholar
Bleuler, E. (1924) Textbook of Psychiatry (trans. Brill, A. A.). New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Brett-Jones, J., Garety, P. A. & Hemsley, D. (1987) Measuring delusional experiences: a method and its application. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 26, 257–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chadwick, P. & Lowe, C. (1990) The measurement and modification of delusional beliefs. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 225–232.Google Scholar
David, A. (1990) Insight and psychosis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 798–808.Google Scholar
EGRET (1990) EGRET Reference Manual. Seattle: Statistics and Epidemiology Research Corporation.Google Scholar
Everitt, B. (1986) Finite mixture distributions as models for group structure. In New Developments in Statistics for Psychology and the Social Sciences (ed. Lovie, A.), pp. 113–128. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Everitt, B. (1989) Statistical Methods for Medical Investigations. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Fish, F. (1974) Fish's Clinical Psychopathology (ed. Hamilton, M.). Bristol: Wright.Google Scholar
Hafner, H. & Boker, W. (1973) Crimes of Violence by Mentally Abnormal Offenders. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jaspers, K. (1963) General Psychopathology (trans. Hoenig, J. & Hamilton, M.). London: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
McGinn, C. (1979) Action and its explanation. In Philosophical Problems in Psychology (ed. Bolton, N.), pp. 20–42. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Merskey, H. (1980) Psychiatric Illness (3rd edn). London: Ballière, Tindall.Google Scholar
Nelson, H. E. (1982) National Adult Reading Test (NART) for the Assessment of Premorbid Intelligence in Patients with Dementia: Test Manual. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Nimgaonkar, V., Wessely, S., Toone, L., et al (1988) Response to drugs in schizophrenia. A prospective study of the influence of family history, obstetric complications and ventricular enlargement. Psychological Medicine, 18, 583–592.Google Scholar
Roback, H. B. & Abramowitz, S. I. (1979) Insight and hospital adjustment. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 24, 233–236.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Brown, G. (1966) The reliability and validity of measures of family life and relationships in families containing a psychiatric patient. Social Psychiatry, 1, 38–53.Google Scholar
Schmidt, G. (1986) A review of the German literature on delusions between 1914 and 1939. In The Clinical Roots of the Schizophrenia Concept (eds Cutting, J. & Shepherd, M.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schipkowensky, N. (1968) Affective disorders: cyclophrenia and murder. International Psychiatry Clinics, 5, 59–75.Google Scholar
Shore, D. (1979) Self mutilation and schizophrenia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 20, 384–387.Google Scholar
Silver, J. & Yudofsky, S. (1987) Documentation of aggression in the assessment of the violent patient. Psychiatric Annals, 17, 375–383.Google Scholar
Slater, E. & Roth, M. (1969) Clinical Psychiatry (3rd edn). London: Baillière, Tindall & Cassell.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. (1985) Motives for offending among violent and psychotic men. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 491–498.Google Scholar
Taylor, P. (1985) Motives for offending among violent and psychotic men. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 491–498.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, P., Garety, P., Buchanan, A., et al (1993) Measuring risk through delusions. In Violence and Mental Disorder: Developments in Risk Assessment (eds Monahan, J. A Steadman, H.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
SPSS/PC + (1989) SPSS/PC + Base Manual. Chicago: SPSS Inc.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1981) WAIS-R Manual. New York: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.