The diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and delusional disorder is much more difficult

than many might suspect. Read the following vignettes and analyze whether these beliefs
are signs of a disorder. Then explain your claims further. If you conclude that they are not,
at what point the belief would go “over the line” into the realm of delusion.

1. A 50-year-old man is devoutly religious and claims that he was chosen by God to
form a new church. He hears the voice of God when he goes for walks in the woods
and believes his mission is to cleanse others of wickedness and heal them of both
psychological and physical illness

The case is about a devoutly religious fifty-year-old man who seems to project symptoms of
schizophrenia. It is stated that he has a strong belief that he was chosen by God to form a new
church which belongs to the category of grandiose delusion. It is also said that he claims to
hear the voice of God during a common routine such as walking in the woods which clearly
falls under auditory hallucinations. The case was not elaborated further, however, experiences
such as this may hinder a person from daily routines and activities. The claims and symptoms
apparently show indications of schizophrenia – which may have took place for approximately
a period of six months.

2. A policeman is certain that drug dealers in the city where he works have developed
a conspiracy to burn his house down and kidnap his children for ransom. He claims
that several drug dealers he has arrested have threatened to get even, and he has seen
the same car repeatedly driven in front of his house at night.

The case is about a policeman who claims that he is certain that drug dealers in the city where
he does his duty have developed a conspiracy to burn down his house and kidnap his children
– leading him to experience paranoia because of the dangers of his job that may affect him,
and the people close to him. This may appear as symptoms of persecutory delusions, even so,
the policeman was not executing activities such as staying up all night to keep his house and
his family guarded and does not become an overprotective father towards his children such as
not allowing them to be alone or to go outside by themselves, in short, his actions are not odd
and alarming. Moreover, he is not experiencing any signs of schizophrenia or having
hallucinations, disorganized thoughts and disorganized behavior.