Clinical Features of Delusional Beliefs in Schizophrenic and Unipolar Mood Disorders: A Comparative Study

Abstract

We assessed comparatively 13 clinical features of delusions in a sample of 132 deluded inpatients of both sexes with schizophrenic (n = 89) or unipolar mood disorders (n = 43). Patients with schizophrenic disorders exhibited higher levels of severity than those with unipolar depression with respect to the features of vagueness-illogicality, bizarreness, systematization, conviction, duration and affective incongruence, whereas the reverse held true with respect to the feature of emotional impact. Furthermore, the two diagnostic groups were compared to each other with respect to patients’ scores on five dimensions of their delusions obtained through factor analysis, namely emotional and behavioral impact, cognitive disintegration, delusional certainty, volitional dyscontrol and affective inappropriateness. Schizophrenic patients exhibited higher levels of severity than depressives on the second and fifth dimensions, whereas the reverse held true with respect to the fourth one. Our results suggest that particular features of delusions as well as broader dimensions thereof, may assist in the differential diagnosis of unipolar depression with psychotic features from schizophrenic disorders.

Religious delusions in older adults: Diagnoses, combinations, and delusional characteristics

“…This pattern of association reflects the underlying diagnostic category of psychotic depression. These results are in line with a study among younger adult patients with either schizophrenia or psychotic depression in Athens …”

“…These results are in line with a study among younger adult patients with either schizophrenia or psychotic depression in Athens. 25 A limitation of the current study is that the participation rate of 63% remains behind what would have been achieved with an entirely consecutive sample. No data were collected on the number of patients who refused to be interviewed or who were not identified by their clinicians as meeting the criteria.…”

Delusion formation and insight in the context of affective disturbance

“…To date there have been a limited number of studies investigating differences between delusions in schizophrenia compared with delusions in affective psychosis and these have yielded conflicting evidence. Oulis et al (2000) compared delusional beliefs in schizophrenia and unipolar mood disorders using a 13item scale and found that schizophrenic delusions were more illogical, bizarre, systematised, held with greater conviction and for a longer duration with greater affective incongruence while those in psychotic depressives were subject to greater emotional impact. Other studies however, suggested that delusions have similar characteristics across diagnostic categories.…”