Phenomenology of Delusions among Schizophrenics in Istanbul Anatolian Region

Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology Vol.7 Issue.2

Doi:10.35365/ctjpp.25.2.11

RESEARCH ARTICLE / ARAŞTIRMA YAZISI

Phenomenology of Delusions among Schizophrenics in Istanbul Anatolian Region

İstanbul Anadolu Bölgesindeki Şizofreni Hastalarında Sanrıların Fenomenolojisi

Haydeh Faraji¹, Haluk Usta², Ahmet Ertan Tezcan³

Abstract:

This study aimed to analyze the delusion types of schizophrenic patients in Istanbul’s Anatolian/Asian Region. The content of 397 delusions found in 228 schizophrenic patients was classified using the classification system of Huber and Gross. Persecution and reference were the most frequent themes of delusion in men and women. Persecutory delusions were observed in 71.9% of patients (59.6% of women and 82.3% of men), and reference delusions were observed in 43.1% of patients (39.4% of women and 46.8% of men), followed by grandiosity (22.6%) and religion (16.9%) in men and erotomania (11.5%) and guilt/sin (7.7.%) in women. None of the men or women exhibited homosexual or erotomanic delusions. Physical/mental injury (62.8%) and being followed (39.6%) were the most common kinds of persecution content in persecutory delusions. When it came to persecutors, married women showed a tendency to have persecutory delusions about their husband’s relatives (12.8%). Persecutors also include anonymous individuals, neighbors, friends, family members, and, more recently, cameras. Delusions of hypochondria (5.7%), poisoning (2.6%), and nobility (3.9%) were encountered at lower rates, as observed in previous studies. Like previous studies, our study affirms that gender, education level, cultural and sociopolitical structures, geography, and globalization affect the content of delusions, as well as technological innovations.

Keywords: Phenomenology, Delusions, Schizophrenia.

¹Assoc. Prof., Istanbul Aydin University, Faculty of Sciences and Literature, Department of Psychology, Istanbul-Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected], Orcid Id: 0000-0001-5306-6546

²Dr., Erenköy Mental and Nervous Diseases Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected] Orcid Id: 0000-0001-8965-1608

³Prof. Dr., İstanbul Aydın University, Faculty of Sciences and Literature, Department of Psychology, Istanbul-Türkiye, E-mail: [email protected] Orcid Id: 0000-0002-1868-1655

Address of Correpondence/Yazışma Adresi: Haydeh Faraji, Erenkoy mah. Fahrettin kerim gökay Street, mormin building, no272, floor 1, apartment 7, Kadıköy/İstanbul, E-mail: [email protected]

Date of Received/Geliş Tarihi: 11.06.2024, Date of Revision/Düzeltme Tarihi: 28.04.2025, Date of Acceptance/Kabul Tarihi: 30.05.2025, Date of Online Publication/Çevirimiçi Yayın Tarihi: 05.06.2025

Citing/Referans Gösterimi: Faraji, H., Usta, H. & Tezcan, A. E. (2025). Phenomenology of Delusions among Schizophrenics in Istanbul Anatolian Region. Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry & Psychology, 7(2), 202-211.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Cyprus Mental Health Institute / Cyprus Turkish Journal of Psychiatry and Psychology (www.ktppdergisi.com). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/