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A paranoid disorder; although in practice often difficult to differentiate
from paranoid schizophrenia, the delusions in this disorder are
characteristically systematized and not bizarre, other characteristics of the
active phase or schizophrenia are absent or only fleetingly present, personality
functioning remains relatively intact outside the area of the delusional theme,
and overall impairment remains less than in schizophrenia. Subtypes are
recognized on the basis of the predominant delusional theme: erotomanic (i.e.,
the delusion that another person, usually of higher status, is in love with the
person); grandiose (i.e., delusions of inflated worth, power, knowledge, or
identity); jealous (i.e., the delusion that one’s sexual partner is unfaithful);
persecutory (i.e., the delusion that one, or someone to whom one is close, is
being treated malevolently); somatic (i.e., the delusion that one has some
physical defect or nonpsychiatric medical condition); and mixed.
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