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Delusion, in psychology, a rigid system of beliefs with which a person is preoccupied and to which the person firmly holds, despite the logical absurdity of the beliefs and a lack of supporting evidence. Delusions are symptomatic of such mental disorders as paranoia, schizophrenia, and major depression and of such physiological conditions as senile psychosis and delirium. They vary in intensity, extent, and coherence and may represent pathological exaggeration of normal tendencies to rationalization, wishful thinking, and the like. Among the most common are delusions of persecution and grandeur; others include delusions of bodily functioning, guilt, love, and control.

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Sigmund Freud, 1921.
the central theme of a group of psychotic disorders characterized by systematic delusions and of the nonpsychotic paranoid personality disorder. The word paranoia was used by the ancient Greeks, apparently in much the same sense as the modern popular term insanity. Since then it has had a variety...
any of a group of severe mental disorders that have in common such symptoms as hallucinations, delusions, blunted emotions, disordered thinking, and a withdrawal from reality. Schizophrenics display a wide array of symptoms, but five main types of schizophrenia, differing in their specific...
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