Delusional Disorder Persecutory Type: 297.1 (F22)
Delusional disorder is characterized by one or more delusions occurring within 1 month or more ( American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Symptoms of Persecutory delusional disorder include the belief that there is a conspiracy against the individual, feelings of being cheated, spied upon, spitefully maligned or followed. People with persecutory delusion are usually infuriated, angry and violent towards the individuals they believe may be hurting them. This individual reported conspiracy thoughts, suspicion of harm, and quick/uncontrolled anger, which caused fights that began when she was 22. The individual deliberately engaged in the altercations because there was no evidence of delusion to justify the diagnosis of a persecutory delusional disorder. Delusional ideations may evolve from personality disorders, with paranoid traits and paranoid personality disorder being the strongest predictor of delusional severity (Tonna etal., 2018).