Ideas and delusions of reference

This article is about mental illness. For the album by Psyopus, see Ideas of Reference.

Ideas of reference and delusions of reference describe the phenomenon of an individual experiencing innocuous events or mere coincidences[1] and believing they have strong personal significance.[2] It is "the notion that everything one perceives in the world relates to one's own destiny", usually in a negative and hostile manner.[3]

In psychiatry, delusions of reference form part of the diagnostic criteria for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia,[4] delusional disorder, and bipolar disorder with mania, as well as for the narcissistic and schizotypal types of personality disorder.[5] To a lesser extent, their presence can be a hallmark of paranoid personality disorder, as well as body dysmorphic disorder. They can be found in autism during periods of intense stress.[6] They can also be caused by intoxication, such as from stimulants like methamphetamine.

  1. ^ Kiran C, Chaudhury S (2009). "Understanding delusions". Ind Psychiatry J. 18 (1): 3–18. doi:10.4103/0972-6748.57851. PMC 3016695. PMID 21234155.
  2. ^ "Ideas of Reference - Encyclopedia of Psychology". 17 June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  3. ^ Laurence M. Porter, Women's Vision in Western Literature (2005) p. 117
  4. ^ Andreasen, Nancy C. (1984). "Scale for the assessment of positive symptoms" Archived 2010-12-28 at the Wayback Machine; The Movement Disorder Society.
  5. ^ Lenzenweger, MF, Bennett, ME, & Lilenfeld, LR (1997). "The Referential Thinking Scale as a measure of schizotypy: Scale development and initial construct validation" (PDF). Psychological Assessment. 9 (4): 452–463. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.9.4.452. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2018-08-31.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Schopler, Eric; Mesibov, Gary B.; Kunce, Linda J. (1998-04-30). Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism?. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-0-306-45746-3.