(February 26, 2018 at 9:47 pm)Alexmahone Wrote:(February 26, 2018 at 9:04 pm)chimp3 Wrote: It has to do with the crippling effect of the delusion. If you believe Elvis is alive and you pay your bills go to work, school,etc. then you are just irrational and misguided. If you will not leave the house because you think Elvis is showing up to marry you (true story with a family member of mine) then your thoughts are delusional. When I worked as a psych nurse we tried to teach patients how to distinguish between their "normal" religious thoughts and those that are signalling another psychotic break. Religion was never discouraged and I know why. My entire family is religious, I have cared for those in a a psychotic delusional state, and these states are different.
Surely you're changing the definition here. The DSM-5 doesn't say anything about the crippling effect of the delusion.
It is assumed by its presence in the book. A mental disorder, disordered thinking, whatever you want to call it all boils down to coping. A person may be chronically nervous about school, but unless they start having panic attacks and avoiding school, they don't have a disorder. A mental disorder must cause disruption of a person's life to be considered such. Therefore, if the delusion is not causing disruption, it's not a disorder. I think we can agree that there's a big difference between a person who believes god answers her prayers and a person who believes god is speaking through her literally.
