Curriculum · Mental Health / Psychiatry
Delusion of reference
What it is
In delusion of reference the patient believes that events have personal significance to him. For instance, when two persons are talking to each other, he believes that they are referring to him. Another common example of delusion of reference is the belief that specific phrases in Quran carries a special significance to the patient.
How it presents
A woman with a chronic psychiatric disorder who reports that the comments of a well-known news anchorman have a special meaning that only she understands, and who is convinced that when he reports on local events he is really trying to persuade her to start a sinful relationship, is showing a delusion of reference. The same picture has to be kept apart from a visual hallucination, an illusion, a delusion of persecution and concrete thinking.