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Obsessions and Delusions: Separate and Distinct, or Overlapping?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Paul C. Bermanzohn ,
Linda Porto ,
Phyllis B. Arlow ,
Sylvia Axelrod ,
Roslyn Stronger ,
Jeannette Martino-beyer ,
Simcha Pollack  and
Samuel G. Siris
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Abstract

The convergence of obsessive and schizophrenic symptoms, particularly the blending of obsessional and delusional features into complex symptoms, calls for a clarification of the relationship between obsessions and delusions, which are usually thought of as separate and distinct, even opposite entities. This brief review is a preliminary attempt to assess some of the difficult issues raised by these phenomena.

We evaluate obsessions and delusions, and how they may overlap. A patient's degree of insight has been deemed a determining factor in distinguishing between these primary symptoms. However, our review of the literature shows that a definite distinction between obsessions and delusions cannot be made solely on the basis of insight.

Type
Feature Articles
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 2 , Issue 3: Schizophrenia & OCD: Convergence , March 1997 , pp. 58 - 61
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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