I mean, how many such people REALLY believe that they are Napoleon ,or Jesus Christ, or somebody really famous? Are these people really enjoying their condition?
Are there ANY verified cases of this> Or is it just an urban legend that some mentally ill people think they are famous persons?
You aren’t understanding the clinical nature of delusion or of the unpleasantness of many of the conditions that generate delusional beliefs.
A delusion is a false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality. The belief is maintained despite any incontrivertable proof to the contrary. Most delusions are referencial: events, objects, or other persons in one’s immediate environment have a remarkable and unusual significance.
E.g./
One believes with absolute conviction that grafitti on one’s desk is really truly a very important message that the delusional person MUST understand. Not being able to decipher the message produces anxiety and an obsession with understanding the message – It’s an important message they MUST understand! No one else can see that it’s obviously a message because the message was only intended for the one person!!!
Or the waterstains on a bathroom ceiling are REALLY symbols from a mystical source that is trying to communicate with you or read your mind.
Referencial delusions are usually negative. (Government’s trying to read my mind. “They” are out to get me because I am a failure as a human being.) They usually aren’t fun and are accompanied by paranoia and profound beliefs of persecution.
Delusions can be delusions of control in which the victim feels his actions are not his own but instead are being imposed but some external force (like “witches are controlling my body – they are making me feel rage!”) Not fun.
There are illnesses that create a sense of grandiosity so that they believe they are “special” or “powerful” or “greater than mere mortals.” Some people have grandiose delusions (instead of the negative scary ones) and may believe they are “here to serve a higher purpose.” They may believe they are the next incarnation of Jesus, or Gandhi resurrected. More commonly, it may be as simple as “I graduated top of my class from Harvard and have travelled the world.”
Or they may believe they have a “special connection” to a famous person (like when you hear about a stalker who insists “but I am married to Madonna!”) They may believe they are really the long lost heir of some wealthy, unspecified person and will one day inherit the world, or that they are presently wealthy and so are reckless with what little income they really do have.
They usually suffer a great deal because no one else believes them and they feel persecuted. It’s a very frustrating existence to defend your delusions of grandeur. Lotsa confusion I’d imagine.
Bottom line: most who suffer from delusions are not enjoying themselves much.
IIRC, there is also a form of an identity disorder that is caused by trauma – major defense mechnism type stuff. Like someone witnesses something so horrifying they suffer a psychotic break and become “someone else” so as not to suffer.
Not all that enjoyable either I expect.
So yes, I believe there are documented cases of psychotics who suffer from grandiose delusions that affect their sense of identity. But no, they probably don’t get to enjoy it much.
Crayons
(I’m really Cecil Adams. I am. Really.)
I know a catatonic schizophrenic, who has delusions that he is Jesus Christ and that he has fought in supernatural wars with and against several relgious and hisotrical figures. He really disliked the label of mental illness, describing his delusions as a “spiritual journey” that he felt lucky to of had. Of course he is as mad as a hatter, known on occasions to have long discussions on the spirituality of a potatoes, but also a very talented artist.
One now very dated, but still very readable, book on the subject: The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (Knopf, 1964) by Milton Rokeach. What happens when three patients, all believing they are Christ, are introduced?
I can name two people (well, I won’t name them, what with HIPAA and all) who seem to be enjoying their delusions, thankyouverymuch. (I’m a social worker who works with mentally ill adults).
“Ernest” believes that he has suitcases full of money at the bottom of Lake Michigan. On at least three occasions he’s hitchiked to Chicago and wandered out into the lake, only to be picked up by the local PD and wind up back home here in Springfield. “Ernest” speaks fondly about his trips to Chicago and is absolutely positive that one day he’s going to find his money. He smiles every time he talks about it. He’s looking forward to the day he finds his suitcases and lives like a king. The fact that he lives in poverty now and has a third party manage his Social Security benefits for him doesn’t seem to bother him in the least.
“Don” is your typical case study of a person with referential delusions. He believes that he is getting secret messages in the local news broadcasts. He lives alone in house he inherited from his parents and has no job, and has little to do but drive around (he has a DL and a car). The daily news broadcasts are the only thing he has to look forward to each day, and he feels really quite special that the local newscasters are sending secret messages to him. From time to time the news will tell him to go out and look for signs. So, he’ll walk a few blocks to the laundry and sit on the curb, watching the cars go by, and scanning the skies above, looking for God knows what. He seems to be glad to have something to do.
Now, in case anyone didn’t know, I’m not saying that debilitating mental illness is “fun.” But clearly there at least two people whose illness seems to offer them some respite from the realities of their lives. YMMV.
I dont think they do. I only know one person who thought he was the messiah and recieved special messages from celebrities (thats sort of an amusing statement i guess), and he seems emotionally scarred from it pretty badly. He feels like people who ‘join’ a cult and lose several years of their lives pursuing a lie based on religous grandeur. Usually years during the the late teens, early 20s. Luckily he hasn’t had any relapses into insanity in the 4 years since he has come back to reality and he seems pretty much normal now (albiet 5 years behind other people his age in alot of aspects) but from what i can tell but its obvious he doesn’t consider them to be a gift because he felt the delusions were a lie that stole a large part of his life.
My friend has very debilitating delusions. I think he’s schizophrenic, but he adamantly refuses to be labelled as mentally ill and won’t get treatment. He thinks his entire life is staged (much like in that movie The Truman Show), that his family and friends have betrayed him as they are all in on the grand conspiracy. The nature of this conspiracy is that he has been conditioned and programmed by “people” (who they are, he doesnt quite know), and they have been modifying and guiding his behavior.
EVERYTHING he witnesses, he attempts to use as justification for this delusion…ie, a low battery beep that goes off in intervals on a smoke detector is a Pavlovian device to condition his thoughts.
He is convinced that everyone, even strangers on the street, know him intimately because his thoughts and actions are transmitted and watched for entertainment. He is tortured by this intrusion of privacy, and feels utterly helpless about it. He is unwilling to see himself as delusional or sick; when pressed about how his symptoms match those of schizophrenics, he dismisses them as ill people whereas his beliefs are real.
He can’t work anymore. He elaborates persecution plots in his head when he is around others. Whenever I say anything, no matter how frivolous or harmless, he tries to overanalyze and interpret it as a deep, hidden message. He thinks I’m one of THEM, but not quite evil, and that perhaps I’m sending him encoded messages that he can use to free himself.
As you can see, it is a frustrating friendship, one I can not really tolerate anymore. I’ve tried my best to help him, but he is too stubborn and hostile now. He needs to be hospitalized against his will, but that may cause too much trauma as he is deathly afraid of doctors.
Hence I said “most” don’t get the opportunity to enjoy them. More so because of circumstances surrounding the underlying condition. Delusions themselves may be pleasant enough (if no one is trying to make you continually justify your beliefs), though from what I remember reading the non-fun kind are much more common. A grandiose delusion (instead of a paranoid delusion), I’d expect can be cool as the grandiose feeling can be an enjoyable one.
Having a rip-snortin’ good time of it would be rare, but I never said doesn’t happen at all. Just not as common. (And some of the enjoyment can be wrecked by well-intentioned folks who make you take medicine and challenge you on your beliefs all the time. Those meddlesome kids!)
Once upon a time, I woke up naked on a pinkroom floor. It’ wicked coming off of thorazine. I’m not sure what happened, my lawyer says that I didn’t do anything real wrong, I just scared some people. That was ten years ago, I manage my condition now. I take my meds, go to the therapist, etc, I like to think of myself as being mentally well. Sometimes I hear voices or mirrors talk to me. I don’t give them any credence, I accept that they are not real. Besides they are generally full of shit. Any questions?
George Bush believes he is saving the world, and he seems to be having an alright time
Of course, we have the infamous Emperor Norton I. I imagine that was an enjoyable delusion.
Please keep political comments out of GQ. Thank you.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
sorry couldn’t resist