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Welcome to the world where delusions of anything grandeur have suddenly become an increasingly normalised and socially accepting coping mechanism, where, in recent years, the popular GEN-Z phrase “delulu is the solulu” invites itself as a temporary solution. Its concept is rooted in the idea of setting unrealistic expectations for oneself and manifesting them to come true—in other words, the desire for a miracle.
Whether it’s a TikTok video or an Instagram post, the “delulu is the solulu?” meme has become the rallying cry for those navigating life’s ups and downs with a sprinkle of optimism and a dash of humour at the brink of despair. But what does it mean? Is embracing a bit of delusion honestly the answer for happiness? Why do we delude ourselves into such scenarios?
What is delusional disorder?
Delusional disorder is a type of mental health condition where a person holds strong beliefs that are not based on reality. These beliefs, known as delusions, are unshakeable and often seem entirely false to others. They’re not related to the person's culture or beliefs held by those around them, which makes it clear that these thoughts are not grounded in truth. In simple terms, someone with a delusional disorder truly believes in something that almost everyone else knows isn’t true (Cleveland Clinic, n.d.).
Delusional disorder vs. Schizophrenia
While people with delusional disorders are purely limited to having delusions, schizophrenia is not limited to the common psychotic symptom, and its implications in daily life is much more severe compared to delusional disorders. Additionally, being diagnosed with delusional disorder to rarer than being diagnosed with schizophrenia, with an average of 0.05% to 0.1% of the worldwide population globally are disagnosed with delusional disorder (Cleveland Clinic, n.d.) compared to the 0.45% of population being diagnosed with schizophrenia (World Health Organisation, 2022).
Categories of delusions
While a variety of delusions exist, they are not always on the extreme but instead lie on a spectrum of delusion disorders. As such, here are the six most basic categories of delusions, according to Very Well Health:
Persecutory - the belief that an unknown individual is out there to harm them or one being accused of committing horrible acts that never existed
Erotomanic - the belief that another individual is in love with them
Grandiose - the belief that one possesses extraordinary wealth, power, purpose, or identity in life
Jealous - the belief that an individual’s partner is unfaithful
Somatic - the belief that something is wrong with one’s body, whether internally or externally
Mixed/unspecific - refers to the fact that either an individual may have different types of delusions mixed at one, with none more common than the other, or delusions that cannot fit into the above categories.
What’s common amongst all these types of delusions is that they are based on the person’s unfounded belief that causes them to accuse themselves or others of different acts baselessly.
How to become delusional
(No, this is not your Youtube tutorial or any WikiHOW article)
Even with a large amount of psychiatric disorders at the grasp of a psychologist’s hand, researchers still cannot comprehend the exact mechanisms that cause an individual to become delusional.
HOWEVER, according to Cleveland Clinic, researchers are looking at a variety of factors that could cause one to become delusional:
Biological factors:
Genetics - Studies have shown that delusional disorder is statistically more likely to appear in people who come from families with a history of schizophrenia or delusional disorders, suggesting that genetics play a critical role in the inheritance of mental health disorders in general from the parent to its biological offspring.
The Brain - Abnormalities in the brain, such as the imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, may also cause delusional disorders to occur among individuals
Environmental/psychological factors:
Exposure to a hostile environment may trigger high levels of stress, protective factors or other mental disorders that contribute to delusional disorder’s development
Intake of alcohol and drugs can also trigger delusional disorder
Impact on the brain
Figure 1: Neuroimaging findings are indicative of increased (shown in red) and decreased (shown in blue) activity of several brain regions of patients exhibiting
delusions irrespective of the content.
The image showcases a diagram of a deluded brain from Arjmand et al. (2020)’s study on looking at a deluded brain from a neurocognitive lens. According to the study, the data from using PET or fMRI studies indicate that the frontotemporal regions play a role in triggering delusions amongst deluded patients with delusional disorder or schizophrenia, revealing that both psychiatric disorders not only (as shown in red) reduce activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), left parahippocampal gyrus, and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), it also enhances activity of the bilateral posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), bilateral superior temporal gyrus, fusiform gyrus, and left interior middle temporal gyrus in return (as shown in blue) (Arjmand et al., 2020).
This dual pattern of brain activation provides valuable insight into how certain neural circuits may contribute to the manifestation of delusions.
Health Implications
Even if “delulu is the solulu” comes off as a lighthearted slang that paints an idealistic and nonpragmatic problem of dealing with life’s problems (I see you guys out there), the potential of being diagnosed delusional disorder can come off with profound health implications such as:
Distorting reality (self-explanatory)
Impairing daily functioning (ex: work, relationships, and self-care)
Cause individuals to isolate themselves due to incongruent realities with others socially
Lead people to engage in risky behaviours or harm themselves or others
Co-occur with other mental health conditions (ex :depression, anxiety, or substance abuse)
Delusional disorders can be chronic, with symptoms persisting over a long period, impacting the individual's quality of life and requiring ongoing management and support. As such, it is crucial to be aware of the surrounding challenges that come with living off of the “delulu is the solulu” mindset.
If this article has piqued your interest in delusional disorders, click HERE for this insightful video.
Works cited
Arjmand, S., Kohlmeier, K.A., Behzadi, M., Ilaghi, M., Mazhari, S. and Mohammad Shabani, M. (2020). Looking into a Deluded Brain through a Neuroimaging Lens. The Neuroscientist, Volume 27(Issue 1), pp.74–87. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/10738584209361.
Blanchflower, D.G. and Bryson, A. (2024). The adult consequences of being bullied in childhood. Social Science & Medicine, 345, pp.116690–116690. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116690.
Cleveland Clinic (2022). Delusional disorder. [online] Cleveland Clinic. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9599-delusional-disorder.
Verywell Health. (2024). Types of Delusions. [online] Available at: https://www.verywellhealth.com/types-of-delusions-5094129.
Wolke, D. and Lereya, S.T. (2019). Long-term effects of bullying. Archives of Disease in Childhood, [online] 100(9), pp.879–885. doi:https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-306667.
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