Surely you have met someone who continually believed they were special and did all kinds of things perfectly. Even that person tells stories of achievements that sound quite unreal. That person could be suffering from what is known as delusions of grandeur, although we want to insist that in most cases there is no disorder and it is simply part of the person’s personality.
This is a type of according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5, 2013), which would fall within psychotic disorders. The moment in which the person is believing that he has those qualities or that he has obtained such achievements that do not correspond to reality is known as delusion. However, despite the delusions, the person’s behavior is not excessively extravagant, so they can lead a normal life.
Next, in Psychology-Online, we will explain in more detail What is delusion of grandeur, what are its symptoms and its causes? and we will expose other types of delusions and related disorders.
Types of megalomania
Megalomania is a psychological disorder that causes a person to have a very high concept of themselves, narcissism, and behavior similar to delusions of grandeur. Within this disorder, there are two different types:
- Megalomaniac personality disorder: They are people with a great concept of themselves and who also have a very high self-esteem. They are unable to see their mistakes, however, with therapy this can be worked on. It is a type of problem that develops in childhood depending on aspects of upbringing or the context in which the individual has developed.
- Megalomaniac delusional disorder: It would be the most serious type of both, since this is when we would have delirium. In this case, the inflexibility they have to recognize another reality other than the one they believe marks the difficulty of the treatment. This type of delirium can develop in adulthood, more suddenly than the previous one. As we see, the description is the same as in delusions of grandeur, which is why they are usually treated as synonyms.
In the DSM 5, megalomania would be part of the .
What is delusion of grandeur?
As we said, delusions of grandeur or megalomania are a type of delusional disorder that consists of the main theme of the delusion being that the person believes he or she has a certain talent or knowledge or has made an important discovery. All of this does not correspond to reality.
Furthermore, according to the DSM 5 manual, we can add the specification of extravagance if the delusion is very implausible. Likewise, depending on its frequency as an acute episode, in partial remission or in total remission. On the other hand, depending on the severity, it would be classified from 0 to 4 depending on what the delusions are like, if the person’s speech is disorganized, if there are psychomotor problems due to the delusions, etc. stage 4 being the most serious.
Symptoms of megalomania
Megalomaniac people or delusions of grandeur they believe they have unlimited abilities and they usually try to put them to the test. Furthermore, they do not learn from their mistakes since they are blinded by the image they have of themselves. Because of this very distorted image, it seems that they are continually pretending. On the other hand, they take into account the opinions of others and the reactions of others to their actions. However, when they are criticized or contradicted, They believe and are convinced that the problem lies with others..
Causes of delusions of grandeur
It is hypothesized that the causes of megalomania are, in addition to genetics, a childhood in which the person has been constantly praised and protected of all kinds of criticism and to which sufficient limits have not been set. Additionally, it can also be due to serious or chronic illness, infections, alcohol withdrawal, or metabolic imbalances such as low sodium levels.
Despite what one may believe, these individuals They have low self-esteem that they unconsciously try to protect through those continuous praises of themselves. Because of this, even though reality constantly shows them that they do not have the qualities they believe they have, they are unable to recognize it.
Other types of delirium
As we said, grandiose delusional disorder is just one of the types of delusional disorder. Next, we will explain the other types of this disorder.
- : the person believes that a third party is in love and obsessed with them.
- : You believe that your partner is unfaithful and perform all kinds of actions in order to prove it.
- Persecutory: in persecution mania there is a conviction on the part of the sufferer that they are conspiring against them, that they are being deceived, spied on, followed, poisoned or drugged, defamed, harassed or prevented from achieving long-term goals. .
- Somatic: Delirium involves bodily functions or sensations.
- Mixed: There is no specific subtype, but rather we are faced with a mixture.
- not specified: when all the symptoms are not met.
In this article you will find more information about the . For any of these types, there has to be a consistency about the delusions and a determination to want to prove that the delusion is real. The fact that a person at one point in their life believes that they are unfaithful even though this is not the case would not necessarily give them Jealousy-type Delusional Disorder. In this type of disorders, the people around him suffer a lot and it is very complex for them to deal with these people, which is why they often have many problems in their interpersonal relationships.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is delusions of grandeur: symptoms, causes and exampleswe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- American Psychiatric Association (APA). (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. Barcelona: Masson.
Bibliography
- Fox, T. (2015). Megalovania: Undertale’s most megalomaniac character song.
- Rose, L. (2005). How to Be a Successful Tyrant: The Megalomaniac Manifesto.
- Rosenfeid, I. (2001). Freud’s Megalomania: A Novel.