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BTSC Staff Nurse 30July-2025
Applied Psychology
Easy

The condition in which false beliefs are firmly maintained even though they are not shared by others is called:?

Appeared in: BTSC Staff Nurse 30July-2025

Explanation

  • A delusion is defined as a false belief that a person holds firmly, even when presented with clear evidence that contradicts it.
  • This belief is not consistent with the person's cultural or religious background.
  • It is a core symptom of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and can also occur in mood disorders and dementia.
  • The key aspects are that the belief is false, fixed (unshakable), and idiosyncratic (not shared by others).

Why Other Options Were Wrong

  • Option B: An illusion is a misinterpretation of a real sensory stimulus. The question describes a false belief, not a misinterpretation of something that is actually present.
  • Option C: A hallucination is a false sensory perception without any external stimulus. The question describes a false belief (a thought), not a false sensory experience (like seeing, hearing, or feeling something that isn't there).
  • Option D: Delirium is an acute state of confusion, characterized by a fluctuating level of consciousness, inattention, and disorganized thinking. It is a broad disturbance of consciousness and cognition, not a single, fixed false belief.

Related Visual

Visual explanation — Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
  • Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Disorders of Thought and Perception as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
  • Nurses must accurately differentiate between delusions, hallucinations, and illusions to assess a patient's mental state, determine the risk of harm, and implement appropriate interventions.
  • When interacting with a patient experiencing a delusion, it is crucial for the nurse to not argue with or challenge the belief, as this can increase agitation and damage the therapeutic relationship. Instead, the focus should be on the feelings associated with the delusion and on reality-based activities.
  • What if? If a patient states, "I see spiders crawling on the wall," but the nurse sees nothing, this is a hallucination (a false perception), not a delusion. The nursing intervention would shift from managing a false belief to reassuring the patient about their safety and exploring the nature of the sensory experience.
How to Approach the Question
  • First, break down the question stem to identify the key defining features. The core concepts are "false beliefs" and "firmly maintained."
  • Next, analyze the term "belief." This points towards a disorder of thought content, rather than perception.
  • Evaluate each option against this definition.
  • "Delusion" is the precise psychiatric term for a fixed, false belief.
  • "Illusion" and "Hallucination" are disorders of perception, not thought.
  • "Delirium" is a broader syndrome of altered consciousness and cognition, not just a specific false belief. Therefore, delusion is the best fit.
Concept Tested & Keywords
  • Concept Tested: Disorders of Thought and Perception
  • Stem keywords: false beliefs, firmly maintained
  • Lead-in keywords: is called
  • Negative lead-in flag: false

Question ID

QxLoB_dtqXkrTp3W2sREAh

Reference Book

E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) pp. 3249-3251, 3802-3804, 3815-3817

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