[Is delusion a reasonable scientific term? Reflections on psychopathology in the psychiatry of the twenty-first century]

Abstract

Delusion is a central but difficult and controversial term in psychiatry. Similar to the term schizophrenia at the nosological level, the basic questions in the specialty are linked in the debate on delusion at the clinical psychopathological level, beginning with epistemological and methodological aspects up to concrete embodiment of the physician-patient relationship. The text of this article reflects this development from the nineteenth century up to the present day and makes reference to the lively discussion on the future directions of psychiatric research triggered by the research domain criteria (RDoC). Under certain prerequisites, including in particular an extensive understanding of psychopathology, delusion is considered to be a reasonable scientific term, also in the future.