Question:medium
A patient says that he follows the way birds fly whenever he is in an open place because God is giving him instructions through the birds. What is the diagnosis?
A patient says that he follows the way birds fly whenever he is in an open place because God is giving him instructions through the birds. What is the diagnosis?
Show Hint
Real object or event + false fixed meaning = delusional perception. Seeing something without stimulus = hallucination.
Updated On: May 14, 2026
- Delusional perception
- Visual hallucination
- Delusional memory
- Sudden delusional ideas
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The question describes a specific psychopathological phenomenon where a real, normal stimulus is given a sudden, profound delusional meaning.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Delusional Perception: This is one of Schneider’s First-Rank Symptoms of Schizophrenia. It occurs in two stages:
1. A normal perception: The patient sees something perfectly normal (e.g., birds flying in the sky).
2. A delusional meaning: The patient attaches a private, delusional, and often self-referential significance to that perception (e.g., "God is instructing me through their flight path").
Characteristics: There is no logical connection between the object perceived and the meaning assigned. It is not an illusion or a hallucination because the patient actually sees what everyone else sees, but interprets it differently.
Why B is incorrect: A visual hallucination would mean the patient is seeing something that is not there (e.g., seeing a vision of God in the sky).
Why C is incorrect: Delusional memory involves a past event being remembered with a delusional interpretation (e.g., "The way my teacher looked at me 10 years ago proved I was the chosen one").
Clinical context: Delusional perception is highly diagnostic of a primary psychotic disorder like Schizophrenia.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Attributing divine instructions to the normal flight of birds is a classic example of delusional perception.
The question describes a specific psychopathological phenomenon where a real, normal stimulus is given a sudden, profound delusional meaning.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Delusional Perception: This is one of Schneider’s First-Rank Symptoms of Schizophrenia. It occurs in two stages:
1. A normal perception: The patient sees something perfectly normal (e.g., birds flying in the sky).
2. A delusional meaning: The patient attaches a private, delusional, and often self-referential significance to that perception (e.g., "God is instructing me through their flight path").
Characteristics: There is no logical connection between the object perceived and the meaning assigned. It is not an illusion or a hallucination because the patient actually sees what everyone else sees, but interprets it differently.
Why B is incorrect: A visual hallucination would mean the patient is seeing something that is not there (e.g., seeing a vision of God in the sky).
Why C is incorrect: Delusional memory involves a past event being remembered with a delusional interpretation (e.g., "The way my teacher looked at me 10 years ago proved I was the chosen one").
Clinical context: Delusional perception is highly diagnostic of a primary psychotic disorder like Schizophrenia.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Attributing divine instructions to the normal flight of birds is a classic example of delusional perception.
Was this answer helpful?
0
