Could It Be Illogical or Bizarre Ideas or Fantasies Delusions of Persecution

Delusions of Persecution

(A strong conviction that others, often society at large, are out to get you).

 

Delusions of Reference

 

(An event is believed to have a special and personal meaning. Auditory elements, such as a person or group of people, are believed to be subjecting your mind to messages that only you can hear).

 

Delusions of Grandeur

(This may involve the belief that you have unusual powers or can attain heights beyond ordinary human capability, such as believing you can fly).

 

Delusions of Control

 

(This is the inundating fate of many people who are diagnosed with schizophrenia. They may believe their social or private actions are being controlled. It is often referred to as thought broadcasting or thought insertion).

 

My psychiatric field of interest that I wish to venture into is Forensic Psychiatry. Forensic psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry related to criminology, and it allows me to utilize my Associate Degree in Criminal Justice more effectively. Hey blame that drive on countless hours of watching Criminal Minds.

 

That aspiration has carried me this far from my days as a Trauma/ER Nurse. I have witnessed individuals experiencing psychotic episodes who had to be subdued on the spot and then placed under supervision for seventy-two hours due to self-harm concerns.

 

I want to explore the intellect and understand how the dynamics of the mind move from normal functioning to felonious abstraction. How does a serial killer murder through the mind, yet love as a father or husband with his heart? Where does the breakdown occur?

 

How does the complexity of the mind stray so far that a person believes acting without morality, rendering devious choices and conniving intentions to harm another, is justified, yet still possesses compassion within a selective view?

 

Should the deterioration of the mind be held accountable when it is imprisoned within its own self-belief of immoral tendencies and the necessity to uphold them as reasonable?

 

Its stagnation in adhering to truth within oneself poses many questions. Is there a law of complacency that aligns the mind when there is no chemical imbalance, no history of mental illness, or when the brain possesses an exceptional intellect and high IQ to uphold or condemn the theory that it is all in their head? Or is it?

 

Schizophrenia

 

I will call this patient Jeremy, who is thirty-two years of age, a father of two beautiful girls, a practicing Catholic, well-respected, and a pillar within his community. Jeremy's occupation at the time was Regional/District Manager for a major sales conglomerate.

 

Jeremy, my case-file patient, was on the brink of his company's downsizing due to COVID-19 in 2020. He was later demoted and then forced to work from home. His spouse noticed small subtle changes, which is understandable for anyone experiencing a sudden lifestyle modification accompanied by financial hardship.

 

The psychological changes and inability to adapt in a healthy frame of mind became widespread. Insomnia, lack of drive, withdrawal from interacting with his family, and blaming the growing pandemic's woes on the government emerged. He had several journal entries noting conspiracies, which, to put it mildly, many people entertain from time to time.

 

In Jeremy's case, the delusions of control became a fixation and mental preoccupation. What he believed to be his greatest strength became his most challenging weakness.

 

In mid-2020 authorities were called to the home. His spouse stated that Jeremy had barricaded himself in the basement and refused to allow anyone inside or leave himself.

 

According to the active case file, he became belligerent, and his conduct that day was noted as physically threatening. He had covered the windows, taped the electrical outlets, and removed the light bulbs. In his own admission, he stated that satellites were monitoring his every mood and that his smashed workstation computer had been spying on him and eavesdropping through software hidden within his hard drive.

 

Jeremy, once a loving husband and father, was aggressively subdued in front of his family. A screwdriver was confiscated, and several law enforcement officers suffered injuries. He was escorted to a local hospital, triaged immediately, and placed under observation. He currently takes several medications for his mental health and receives counseling on an outpatient basis. Given his circumstances, he is progressing at a remarkable pace.

 

After reviewing this case file, I realized that we all experience major setbacks in life. It is a common occurrence. We are human by nature. We error, we forgive, and we test the capabilities of our strengths during our darkest hours, periods of self-reliance, and our need to remain sane, especially when we must rely upon faith, family, and friends to help guide us through.

 

Jeremy had what many would consider the basic means to survive. However, his disorganized behavior became apparent, and his conscience could no longer govern his emotions effectively. He found himself at the mercy of his own irrational thinking. At that point in his life, he became a victim of his own behavior, allowing his mind to victimize his actions.

 

While schizophrenia does tend to run in families, approximately sixty percent of schizophrenics have no family members with the disorder at all. Treatment varies, and the prognosis today is better than ever before. In earlier years of conventional treatment, many patients relied heavily upon Electroconvulsive Therapy, commonly known as Shock Therapy.

 

I humbly apologize, but I can only sparsely relate some of the case file's details due to confidentiality.

 

After reading the entirety of this case, I found it extended far beyond my scope of medical and mental health analysis and tested my faith and commitment not to judge, as all medical professionals are sworn to do.

 

During my research, dictation, and dictating for this homework assignment, I discovered that several well-known individuals underwent Electroconvulsive Therapy. The treatment was developed in Italy during the late 1930s.

 

Sylvia Plath
Poetess

She was clinically depressed for much of her adult life and underwent electroconvulsive therapy multiple times.

 

Ernest Hemingway
American Writer

 

David Foster Wallace
American Author

 

Stay strong people. Life will throw curveballs your way from time to time. Just remember that money, fame, and fortune mean very little when the mind is not chemically balanced enough to distinguish fantasy from reality.

 

I cannot stress enough that if you require medication to help stabilize your cognitive well-being, please do what needs to be done. I now have a deeper respect for the saying "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Trust me, after reading psychiatric case files, it truly is.

 

To this day, this remains one of the most perplexing case studies I encountered during my graduate studies. The deeper I examined the circumstances, the more I realized that not every question concerning the human mind presents a clear or comfortable answer.

 

Kemymalia (K.)™ | Director of Nursing, APRN
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