The last couple years of my mom's life, she had significant delusions, caused by Parkinson's related dementia.
Often with Parkinson's, the patient will deny their oppressive symptoms. For example, at the last Thanksgiving I spent with my mom, she repeatedly complained someone had hidden sand in her clothing (combined with Parkinson's being a movement disorder, she was weak, so moving was difficult. Don't mistake it as a joke, she was serious).
On the Saturday after, I was traveling with my brother when she called to see if we had things arranged for Thanksgiving (my immediate family has long been the host of a larger gathering of extended family, so it was on her mind, even though the day had passed and she was essentially bedridden in a facility).
With dementia, there's confusion mixed in, but when it's a delusion in the medical sense, there's not really much sense in trying to argue with it, because it's a literal concrete belief.
Before we moved her into the facility, there were times when she wouldn't eat because she was fretting about her grandchildren that had been turned into squirrels (why would you eat when that is going on).
My very first experience with her irregular thinking was arriving at her home in the morning and having her express relief that I could hear her, as the people she had been hallucinating visually all night were not saying anything she could hear. That was about 3.5 years before she died in hospice and a few months before a full blown psychotic episode.
Following the psychotic episode she had a stay in a psychiatric hospital and was discharged on Zyprexa, which was sedating and really dulled her personality. After changing over to Nuplazid, she had a good number of months of clear thinking, like the clock had been wound back to before any problems started, but it got to where she decided that the pills were the cause of her problems, culminating in another stay in the psychiatric hospital and my family placing her in memory care.
Eventually in memory care she broke her femur (balance problems, falling a lot), requiring surgery to pin the bone back together. In her delusional state, she decided that the pain she felt following the surgery meant that she couldn't stand up anymore, and she was bedridden for the remainder of her life. Physically, she probably could have stood up a couple days after the surgery, but she didn't want to.
I suppose dementia is a small corner of delusional thinking overall, but there you go.
Everyone operates under some level of delusion. There are some very benign instances of it though. For example, some people believe their local sports team will win a championship, despite all evidence to the contrary. I think you'll have to be more specific.
You might need to clarify what you mean by long-term and delusional.
I was a caregiver for two delusional people. My mom unexpectedly developed post-anesthesia dementia for the 6 mos prior to her death. My ex developed a recurring psychosis during the last 15y of our marriage.
They were very different events. IDK if either is similar what you're considering.
My ex's psychotic states could vary in intensity and duration. During one intense time she believed there were armies of cartoonish characters lurking just outside the house - but she didn't feel threatened by them.
During a longish period she stole my van. Some days later I received a call at 3am from someone 400mi away who found her walking along a very remote road. I asked him to call the local police and they got her to a MH ER center. In a week, the center had her stable enough to travel and put her on a bus back.
She could sometimes be reasoned with - sometimes surprisingly so. But it usually didn't stick for long. Some time later she'd back like we never talked.
That's sort of what our time was like. Anything useful?
edit: I had an aunt who was schizophrenic. She lived with us when I was young. She would vacillate between lucidity - and suddenly having conversations with people who weren't there - and then lucidity again, in tens of minutes.
My aunt would also disappear from her husband+kids. She'd turn up months later, usually in France.
Not at all. i dont believe in delusions. I prayed everyday for 2 years for this woman I have always known to be the one. We met at the end of college and she went away to med school. At first she rejected me but after two years my wishes came true and she finally called me up and accepted me. It was the best feeling I have ever felt. I always knew she was the one from the moment I met her. Every day I would pray and god would send signs telling me its meant to be with us. We have been dating each other for 1 year and we are planning our wedding for next year. there is no such thing as being delusional if god makes a promise to you. I tell every single person I meet who has any doubts about their hopes and dreams about our story and that they have to believe in their dreams and prayers for them to come true. if something is meant to be its meant to be and you have to hang in there.
I have been close to a number of people who suffered profound delusions. Are you asserting that their mental absurdities were actually things that happened IRL?
I took this to be a question of what reality is. If you are delusional that is your reality. To someone delusional those of us "normies" could appear crazy. It's all in your point of view and level of objectivity. To your point delusion is a sliding scale, but to believe that you are the most valuable employee at your company is an order of magnitude different than believing there are lizard people trying to poison your pizza while you can't see it in the oven. The objective far end is outside of what I think this person was getting at.
literally yes! miracles and prayers and signs are really real. even going beyond my own story: 70 members of my family were killed in a pogrom in lithuania and the rest perished in the holocaust. my great grandfather was the only one to escape germany along with his two siblings. they fled south africa when the riots happened in the 70s. today our family has completely repopulated!!!! that is one of the most unlikely thinigs to come out of our scenario but the orthodox side of my family all has 20+ kids each. even the things that seem a little hard to believe are true if you have god on your side. ben gurion said "to be jewish is to believe in miracles". i literally make it my job in life to tell people delusions are not real. Because god granted my prayers I tell literally everyone anything you can imagine and believe in is real.
> that is one of the most unlikely thinigs to come out of our scenario
I mean, I'm glad to hear about your family being safe but that's frankly not a huge stretch of the imagination? Collectively the chances of it all happening are very slim, but that could be said about everything that happens in specific enough terms. A once-persecuted family having a thriving family tree isn't a unique or even unlikely result from that scenario. It's a story of familial peril and triumph, but not really one of defying the odds.
To reiterate what the parent was saying - there are degrees of delusion that range from "serendipitous coincidence" to "actual hallucinations caused by taking drugs". At some point along the line, surely all sane people would agree that delusion loses it's basis in rational thought...?
We all do.
Every culture has myth and religion. That’s thousands of made up gods and religions.
Not yours of course, I’m sure the one you happened to be born into is the one true and right one. The other five thousand or so are the made up ones. Those fools spend their whole lives believing in something priests and hucksters made up long ago.
We probably all know a Tesla owner or Musk believer. Maybe a flat-earther, someone who believes in "manifesting," someone devoutly religious. I have personal experience with several people who suffer from long-term delusions. I may have that problem myself, but the beauty of delusions comes from them feeling real so I wouldn't know.
My wife believes that our success is due to her “manifesting” and “vision boarding”.
Meanwhile, I’ve work my ass off for what we have.
The last couple years of my mom's life, she had significant delusions, caused by Parkinson's related dementia.
Often with Parkinson's, the patient will deny their oppressive symptoms. For example, at the last Thanksgiving I spent with my mom, she repeatedly complained someone had hidden sand in her clothing (combined with Parkinson's being a movement disorder, she was weak, so moving was difficult. Don't mistake it as a joke, she was serious).
On the Saturday after, I was traveling with my brother when she called to see if we had things arranged for Thanksgiving (my immediate family has long been the host of a larger gathering of extended family, so it was on her mind, even though the day had passed and she was essentially bedridden in a facility).
With dementia, there's confusion mixed in, but when it's a delusion in the medical sense, there's not really much sense in trying to argue with it, because it's a literal concrete belief.
Before we moved her into the facility, there were times when she wouldn't eat because she was fretting about her grandchildren that had been turned into squirrels (why would you eat when that is going on).
My very first experience with her irregular thinking was arriving at her home in the morning and having her express relief that I could hear her, as the people she had been hallucinating visually all night were not saying anything she could hear. That was about 3.5 years before she died in hospice and a few months before a full blown psychotic episode.
Following the psychotic episode she had a stay in a psychiatric hospital and was discharged on Zyprexa, which was sedating and really dulled her personality. After changing over to Nuplazid, she had a good number of months of clear thinking, like the clock had been wound back to before any problems started, but it got to where she decided that the pills were the cause of her problems, culminating in another stay in the psychiatric hospital and my family placing her in memory care.
Eventually in memory care she broke her femur (balance problems, falling a lot), requiring surgery to pin the bone back together. In her delusional state, she decided that the pain she felt following the surgery meant that she couldn't stand up anymore, and she was bedridden for the remainder of her life. Physically, she probably could have stood up a couple days after the surgery, but she didn't want to.
I suppose dementia is a small corner of delusional thinking overall, but there you go.
Ask the Australian government, they are experts.
Can you elaborate more?
Everyone operates under some level of delusion. There are some very benign instances of it though. For example, some people believe their local sports team will win a championship, despite all evidence to the contrary. I think you'll have to be more specific.
Do you mean someone is delusional in thinking they are good at something and are not ?
if you have a belief i think you should trust it and hope it turns out to be true.
You might need to clarify what you mean by long-term and delusional.
I was a caregiver for two delusional people. My mom unexpectedly developed post-anesthesia dementia for the 6 mos prior to her death. My ex developed a recurring psychosis during the last 15y of our marriage.
They were very different events. IDK if either is similar what you're considering.
Recurring psychosis sounds long term to me. That may be what I’m asking about. It might be the nicest way to hint at schizophrenia.
My ex's psychotic states could vary in intensity and duration. During one intense time she believed there were armies of cartoonish characters lurking just outside the house - but she didn't feel threatened by them.
During a longish period she stole my van. Some days later I received a call at 3am from someone 400mi away who found her walking along a very remote road. I asked him to call the local police and they got her to a MH ER center. In a week, the center had her stable enough to travel and put her on a bus back.
She could sometimes be reasoned with - sometimes surprisingly so. But it usually didn't stick for long. Some time later she'd back like we never talked.
That's sort of what our time was like. Anything useful?
edit: I had an aunt who was schizophrenic. She lived with us when I was young. She would vacillate between lucidity - and suddenly having conversations with people who weren't there - and then lucidity again, in tens of minutes.
My aunt would also disappear from her husband+kids. She'd turn up months later, usually in France.
[dead]
i dont believe in delusions. if you believe in something hard enough its gotta be real.
Not at all. i dont believe in delusions. I prayed everyday for 2 years for this woman I have always known to be the one. We met at the end of college and she went away to med school. At first she rejected me but after two years my wishes came true and she finally called me up and accepted me. It was the best feeling I have ever felt. I always knew she was the one from the moment I met her. Every day I would pray and god would send signs telling me its meant to be with us. We have been dating each other for 1 year and we are planning our wedding for next year. there is no such thing as being delusional if god makes a promise to you. I tell every single person I meet who has any doubts about their hopes and dreams about our story and that they have to believe in their dreams and prayers for them to come true. if something is meant to be its meant to be and you have to hang in there.
> i dont believe in delusions.
This is interesting to me.
I have been close to a number of people who suffered profound delusions. Are you asserting that their mental absurdities were actually things that happened IRL?
If so, that's a pretty unique worldview.
I took this to be a question of what reality is. If you are delusional that is your reality. To someone delusional those of us "normies" could appear crazy. It's all in your point of view and level of objectivity. To your point delusion is a sliding scale, but to believe that you are the most valuable employee at your company is an order of magnitude different than believing there are lizard people trying to poison your pizza while you can't see it in the oven. The objective far end is outside of what I think this person was getting at.
literally yes! miracles and prayers and signs are really real. even going beyond my own story: 70 members of my family were killed in a pogrom in lithuania and the rest perished in the holocaust. my great grandfather was the only one to escape germany along with his two siblings. they fled south africa when the riots happened in the 70s. today our family has completely repopulated!!!! that is one of the most unlikely thinigs to come out of our scenario but the orthodox side of my family all has 20+ kids each. even the things that seem a little hard to believe are true if you have god on your side. ben gurion said "to be jewish is to believe in miracles". i literally make it my job in life to tell people delusions are not real. Because god granted my prayers I tell literally everyone anything you can imagine and believe in is real.
> that is one of the most unlikely thinigs to come out of our scenario
I mean, I'm glad to hear about your family being safe but that's frankly not a huge stretch of the imagination? Collectively the chances of it all happening are very slim, but that could be said about everything that happens in specific enough terms. A once-persecuted family having a thriving family tree isn't a unique or even unlikely result from that scenario. It's a story of familial peril and triumph, but not really one of defying the odds.
To reiterate what the parent was saying - there are degrees of delusion that range from "serendipitous coincidence" to "actual hallucinations caused by taking drugs". At some point along the line, surely all sane people would agree that delusion loses it's basis in rational thought...?
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This seems an especially unhelpful response to the OPs earnest question.
We all do. Every culture has myth and religion. That’s thousands of made up gods and religions.
Not yours of course, I’m sure the one you happened to be born into is the one true and right one. The other five thousand or so are the made up ones. Those fools spend their whole lives believing in something priests and hucksters made up long ago.
We probably all know a Tesla owner or Musk believer. Maybe a flat-earther, someone who believes in "manifesting," someone devoutly religious. I have personal experience with several people who suffer from long-term delusions. I may have that problem myself, but the beauty of delusions comes from them feeling real so I wouldn't know.