Delusional Thinking in Psychotics: Correlates of Religious Content

Abstract

Manic ( n = 18) and schizophrenic ( n = 23) patients were subdivided on the basis of delusional status, with special reference to religious delusions, and compared to a control sample of normal subjects. Assessments of religious attitudes and beliefs, as well as demographic factors, were conducted. No differences existed in the characteristics of manic and schizophrenic patients with delusions, and it was difficult to differentiate delusional patients with and without religious content in their symptoms, although these patients differed in several ways from nondelusional patients and normals. These data are discussed in terms of their implications for theories about the development of delusions.