Delusion, personality disorders, and the impossible.

Maybe I am delusional....

Many a true word is spoken in jest, as the saying goes..

...And just maybe, it's the most painless delivery system available, in an unconscious attempt to reach out for help...
People say this in a throw away sentence as though it means nothing.

But delusion is a very serious state of affairs.

And it means a lot.

dictionary.com.
Delusional:
1/having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions:
2/Psychiatry . maintaining fixed false beliefs even when confronted with facts, usually as a result of mental illness:

Note: I will use the word 'sociopath' as a broad term in this post - to cover a spectrum of personality types - from narcissism, to full blown psychopaths.

Delusion for the individual can be dangerous- both now, and into the future.

'For the now', is fairly obvious.....

If you are living in a world not anchored in reality, then any possibility is an option. Any possibility is impossible, unless you adhere to postmodernist philosophy , (which is a mental illness, in itself)
Running naked down the street can be just as logical a decision as buying groceries, for example.
Both have consequences, but decisions taken that are anchored in the real world, will have much more positive outcomes.

Delusions always fail.
They have to, for they are not real.
This is not to be confused with dreaming of a better future or having ambition to change, for both of these, if anchored in 'the today' , are the seeds of success for tomorrow, and are very different from the delusional state.

Delusion (or metal illness), is never rooted in the today. It's a place always somewhere else, tomorrow, the future...
'The self' is inhabiting a place not of this real world. There is no anchor.
Is is a manifestation of a fear of living in the now?. Possibly, but it could also be rooted in deeper personality traits..

To live in the now is confront who you are. Be comfortable with who you are, warts an' all.
There is nowhere to run when you are living in the real world..
But delusions offer no such harsh realities, anything can be anything, and definitely no harsh world to take on.
Reality is avoided.

At it will blind you to the solutions of today, for your mind is not rooted in today.

For example:

Take the gambler who could have walked away from the roulette table, with enough money to resolve his, and his families problems of the today (get rid of all debts, or whatever it is).
Or he could have taken just enough money off the table , to ensure this debt free future, and then kept playing on the table with what was left..
These non delusional actions would have benefited greatly. In the real world.
It's an action based in the real world, with real consequences.

But the mentally ill (delusional) gambler insists on staying at the tables and to keep playing the game.
Must keep playing.
Not to fix any problems, but to stay in the imaginary world that he inhabits, to fix problems in the future that are not real
(acquiring untold wealth, or something).

So he kept playing until he's left... with nothing.

The delusion of a future with greater riches, blinds the deluded gambler to the pragmatic reality.
The reality that walking away from the game when he was ahead, would have made his and his families life, better. Forever.

No debt today, also means no debt tomorrow, and the week after that, and the year after that...but that logic doesn't fit with the delusion, and so it's not even seen...not accepted.
Without the 'wolves of debt' snapping at your heels every day, life tastes so much sweeter when you wake up every morning. Quality of life now is forgone for an imaginary one, of the future.

This is a million miles away for the evolutionary success of 'deferment of gratification'.
When applied in evolutionary terms, it is not based within concept, but of material use - eating grain now, rather than planting in the spring, etc.
The option of deferment is in regard to material things. Stuff.

But this state of delusion- while precarious for living in the real world today - can have and much more damaging, and far reaching, consequences in the future. Human consequences.

The delusional will not snap out of the delusion, because of failure. This only causes the doubling down of the delusion.
A more manic version, if you will.
(I'll stick with the gambler story, the man who had everything, and then chose to gamble it away for some misty future 'maybe's' ).

The process of self destruction...

Logically, the gambler would have walked out with his winnings and smiled at the world for his good fortune,and smiled about a new life that he and his family were now going to embark upon...
But the gambler, in his delusion, will have to create a logic to support his choice for staying at the tables and losing everything.
There is no other way, for with delusion comes massive ego, and part of that is of always being right.

Anyone attempting to help the gambler, by pointing this out, will be met will defensiveness and justification.
It has to be.
(.....Or a 'thank you' as you tore down the delusion for them to see....this is very, very, rare!)
It too painful a process in the present, to evoke any gratitude.

'Later on', maybe...Or not...But this is a fertile ground for friendship.

For the gambler to accept failure, is to accpet that he was wrong. And that will... not... do ...

It doesn't 'fit' with the self created world that he inhabits.
...It would be an ego crushing experience.
And that hurts.
The cold water of reality,suddenly being poured all over all that delusion? ...ouch.
And because it's a mental illness , it's a medicine that's most unwelcome.

Delusions left unchecked are self reinforcing, and trying to remove them away from someone's fragile psyche, can cause a trauma and debilitation.
Quite literally.

In the mind of the delusional gambler, there is nothing 'to fix', you see?

The delusional gambler doesn't want to improve his mental health, he just wants to prove that he was correct.
Losing everything, in pursuit of that delusion is one way (a very harsh one) , to initiate the 'jolt' that's sometimes needed.
Sometimes essential.
For 'a jolt' is needed, it will not fix itself. ( the deluded see no illness...).

***The time of 'readjustment' to actual reality, once jolted - can be a very painful one, and take some time..

And this is where not spotting the symptoms in time, can become really destructive.

Both for the gambler, and all those around him.

For if the gambler can keep maintain_ his delusions , i.e. No ' lack of disruption' in 'normal' life, then it does not go away, but festers.
Over time, and with no apparent success within a delusional framework that has been built- it will become anger.
Lot's of it.
Real, vicious, nasty anger, that turns once apparently nice people into very unsavory characters.
( I say 'apparent', for the sociopath who is delusional - is a very different animal that 'just' the delusional).
The frustrations of not seeing their dreams become real, manifests itself in varying ways , and not necessarily in themselves,
but can be projected outwards.

The gambler will keep chasing steam (pun intended) in the hope that it turns to gold, and with some enthusiasm- BUT the frustrations will show over time - in the manifestation with the personal relationships of those around them.
People the closest to them in their lives will be the target of pent up anger.
( the world is just not working the way it should' . How they want it to).

Sometimes it can take years before the frustrations spill out of the deluded mind.
The longer that is , the more energy will be unleashed.

And that can destroy lives..

Know yourself.

Clean your head.

There is no point asking the delusional to self diagnose, as it's almost impossible. I say 'almost', because it can happen.
They are trapped in their own reality.

It is possible to see traits and manifestations of a delusional mind.
And the sociopaths.
The two fit together nicely in fact. Intertwined, possibly.

The high functioning sociopath will appear 'all things to all men' , if at all possible.

Manipulation of other people's perception of them , is their specialty, make no mistake.

They are experts at the game, and you will never win this game against them.

They are charming, try hard to have no enemies, and to avoid any conflicts as that will expose them.

side note:
I read an interesting paper a while back, concerning 'the sociopath and social media'.
While it provides the perfect medium of deception for the sociopath, it also provides the people who interact with them, to see them, and patterns of behavior become self evident to those educated in these fields, and looking for such things.
The very advantages that it offers to the sociopath, is also their very Achilles heel.
They can be examined and scrutinized like never before.....
(in the blockchain world, especially, it's here forever).

.....Sociopaths and the delusional.

They will avoid defining themselves at all costs - for this would be showing who they are to the world, and they don't want that.
That is their biggest fear.
The high functioning sociopath- and the deluded, are more than capable of hiding who they really are - for years even - to those that are the closest to them.
Delusions are not solid, but shades of everything.... and nothing.

The responsibility lies in those around them!
It's for them to see these signs of delusion and take the appropriate action...family and community.

Sociopaths are best not engaging with. The longer you play their game, the more you will lose. They are vampires in every sense of the word.
Economic, emotional, spiritual...
(Don't be delusional yourself, thinking that this isn't the case...)

Signs to look out for....

Being very nice. All the time. To everyone. Avoiding conflict. ( look at politician's...)

An avoidance in having to define themselves.

Wearing so many faces to so many people - all at the same time- is a balancing act that takes great skill.

Passive aggression.

The easiest way to attack people without being openly aggressive towards them.
They are masters of emotional manipulation.
To avoid answering direct questions, they instead try to deflect, and turn the subject back onto the questioner, for example...
(Once you know some of these behavior pattern consciously, it's quite easy to spot).

THE ENDS JUSTIFIES THE MEANS....

.... is the mantra of the sociopath, and the deluded.

I'm 'sure' there is a correlation there,( Maybe. I think. Possibly) as to why more sociopaths would gravitate to ward Marxism, and why the deluded may be more prominent on the left wing...

By' left' and 'right' - I mean individualism v's collectivism as a philosophy to life.

'Collectivism' allows for hiding within the group - perfect for the sociopath and the deluded.
'Individualism' shows people for who they are.

.....One thing that can help you differentiate between the deluded sociopath, if you are looking - and the just the merely deluded, I think....

....is humor.

That's one thing that the sociopaths find hard to fake. They hate it. (They hate memes too!lol.)

The deluded can have laugh, just like anyone else!!

The lack of the expression of humor towards the very absurdity that is life, can be a useful indicator to watch out for...