Daniel is kind.
Daniel’s smile makes me want to share a secret with him.
Daniel’s honesty and earnestness make me question my own cynicism.
Frank is a jerk.
He is mean, petty and abusive.
He only targets Daniel, though, constantly undermining Daniel’s self-worth.
What were you thinking?
How can you be so stupid?
Why would you do that?
You screw everything up.
You can’t do anything right.
No one loves you.
No one could ever love you.
I have never met Frank.
I will never meet Frank.
Frank does not exist.
Daniel has schizophrenia.
Frank is a voice in Daniel’s head.
Technically, Frank is a “hallucination.”
Delusions vs. Hallucinations
Someone asked me the other day, “What is the difference between a delusion and a hallucination?”
Great question!
Delusion – a BELIEF that isn’t real.
For example, I have met people who believe:
-
- They had a microchip implanted in their brain by the government.
- They won the lottery, but were cheated out of their millions.
- They invented the Egg McMuffin, but McDonalds stole their invention.
Hallucination – a SENSORY PERCEPTION that isn’t real.
A hallucination can be any of the five senses (or a combination of them):
-
- Auditory – Hearing voices and noises that aren’t there.
- Visual – Seeing people and things that aren’t there.
- Olfactory – smelling things that aren’t there.
- Tactile – Feeling things that aren’t there.
- Taste – Tasting things that aren’t there.
Hallucinations and delusions are different, but they can overlap.
If a person sees creatures and believes that the creatures were sent by the government, that person has a hallucination and a delusion.
Seeing creatures = Hallucination
Believing creatures were sent by the government = Delusion
They don’t have to overlap, though.
A person can see/hear things (hallucination) without a belief about them (delusion).
A person can have a delusion (belief) without hearing/seeing anything (hallucination).
Do you have a question about Mental Illness?
We would LOVE to hear your question! In fact, our entire session on June 9 is Q&A with Dr. Eric Ward.
You can submit your question for Dr. Ward here: https://www.videoask.com/fwfyshspt
Not a member? We want to hear your question as well! If we choose your question for the Q&A, we will give you and your entire organization free access to the training.
Below you can find more information about our current mental illness training series.
Peace,
Ryan
