psychology

Instructions:

  • It can be draining speaking with a delusional individual. They might insist that you accept their beliefs or they may try to convince you of something that you know is not real, is real. They may even insist that you do believe, but you won’t admit it.
  • The more the delusional person talks about what they believe, the more agitated and obsessed they become with what they are saying. They are desperate to communicate what they are feeling and experiencing.
  • Public safety professionals will face delusional individuals and they must learn how to properly address such people.

Setting:

  • For this Discussion Forum, imagine you meet a person at work named Eric.
  • As time goes on, Eric tells you that he is convinced your boss is out to get him. It has come to the point that it is all Eric talks about.
  • He has become more and more agitated and constantly discusses how he is being mistreated and how he needs to do something about this mistreatment.
  • You don’t think Eric is treated differently than anyone else at work, and his obsession with the topic is starting to alarm you.

Review this week’s course material, then:

  1. Briefly define and describe what it means to be delusional and how the definition may fit into Eric’s behavior.
  2. As described by Chapter 32 in your text, there are several rules for communicating with delusional people. What do you believe is the most important rule for dealing with Eric? What do you feel would be the least important rule for dealing with Eric? Defend your answers.
  3. Name at least one outside resource that you think could help Eric.
  4. Cite two outside references using APA formatting in your answer to this Initial Post.
    • Make initial post
    • 250-300 words