A curiously recursive case of psychosis, reported in the latest issue of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, about a person who worked on a reality TV show who had the delusion that they were on a reality TV show.
Mr D. was working on a reality television show when he was hospitalised after causing a public disturbance. While working on the production of the show, he came to believe that he was the one who was actually being broadcast: ‘‘I thought I was a secret contestant on a reality show. I thought I was being filmed. I was convinced I was a contestant and later the TV show would reveal me.’’ He believed his thoughts were being controlled by a film crew paid for by his family. During the 2 weeks prior to admission, he experienced decreased sleep, pressured speech, irritability, paranoia, and hyperreligiosity. The patient carried a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and had had two previous hospitalisations for manic episodes.
The case is from a paper that reports several cases of what the authors call the ‘Truman Show delusion’ where a person believes that they are being featured on a TV show about their life, as in the film of the same name.
Sadly, the article is locked behind a paywall, as it contains a fantastic discussion of how culture and psychosis interact.
Link to locked academic paper.
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