Acting on delusion and delusional inconsequentiality: A review
Comprehensive Psychiatry February 2, 2021 Florent Poupart, Manon Bouscail, Gésine Sturm et al. 12 citations
Patients rarely act on their delusions, a paradox noted by early psychopathologists Eugen Bleuler and Karl Jaspers. A critical review of psychopathological literature finds that phenomenological psychiatry links this inconsequentiality to disorders of self-experience, while analytical philosophy debates whether delusions are beliefs, certainties, or imaginations. Empirical studies on acting on delusion focus on violent and safety-seeking behaviors, showing these actions are driven by emotional outbursts of anger or fear rather than delusional content. Delusional inconsequentiality remains poorly conceptualized but is implicitly supported by evidence that affectivity, not beliefs, motivates delusional actions. The authors propose it as a promising concept for future psychopathological research.