Dysphoria: A Key for ‘Understanding’ Delusion?

Abstract

The ‘nonunderstandability’ that traditional psychopathology attributes to ‘true’ delusion does not have a clear demarcation line, but, rather, it is a continuum of various delusional experiences. The attention paid to emotional situations and, specifically, to dysphoria, often contributes to making the delusional phenomenon, and, above all, its persistence, more understandable. A positive correlation between productive psychotic symptoms and the dysphoric mood often prevails in delusions with unfavorable prognoses.

The legacy of Italian psychiatry

“…The fourth theme is that of phenomenological psychopathology in clinical practice, which has been highlighted by several authors, such as Arnaldo Ballerini, Bruno Callieri, Romolo Rossi and, more recently, Giovanni Stanghellini (Ballerini, 1982;Callieri & Castellani, 1971;Rossi, 2005;Stanghellini & Rosfort, 2013). These authors have made available texts of classical and phenomenological psychopathology, and they have provided a 'koin e', which is a common language for psychiatrists.…”