Dr. Sudhir Hebbar

Delusional disorder refers to the condition in which an individual experiences non-bizarre delusions that are beliefs in things that aren't actually true. The delusions involve situations that take place in real life like being deceived or stalked, conspired against, etc but in actuality, these situations may be highly exaggerated or not true at all as they involve the misinterpretation of experiences or observations. This health problem tends to take place during the middle or later part of your life and is said to affect women more than men.

What are the symptoms associated with this condition?

There are certain signs that you can look out for to easily identify this condition and there are:

1. Delusional thoughts lasting one month and above
2. Lack of schizophrenia symptoms except delusions associated with the olfactory and tactile systems
3. One's behavior and normal functioning doesn't witness any kind of impairment
4. Duration of mood symptoms is short compared to the length of the delusions
5. Disorder is not brought on by the use of substances or any medical condition
6. Commencement of the disorder can vary from teenage years to later part of adulthood

What causes it to happen?
The root cause of the disorder is still not known, but experts are of the opinion that a variety of biological, genetic, environmental and psychological factors can cause it to occur. 

Some of these causes include: 

• Genetics: It's said that this disorder can be passed on from parents to children. Additionally, it's more common in individuals whose family members suffer from schizophrenia or one of its types.
• Psychological/ environmental: In addition to drug and alcohol abuse, delusional disorder can also be set off by stress.
• Biological: Abnormalities in certain parts of the brain can lead to this problem. Areas of brain associated with thinking and perception have been found to be connected to delusional symptoms.