The Chosen One

Creative people really are more likely to be mentally ill, which, explains the connection between genius and madness.

Being a successful entrepreneur might push one to make crazy decisions, but it’s because of that insanity very few select individuals become successful. In other words, there is a fine line between genius and madness because they share the same genes, scientists have found.

The arrogance of believing you're a chosen one, is a part of a range of positive symptoms of schizophrenia. In a psychotic dimension, hallucinations are sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of anything causing those sensations.

Whatever stimulation causes them occurs within the ill person's brain, and not outside in the world. Hallucinations may occur within any sensory realm convincing reality. However, the most commonly reported form of hallucination is auditory; involving hearing people's voices when those people are not there, while dismissing the ones of those that are there.

Auditory hallucinations such as voices occur during full consciousness and appear to originate from one or more third parties. They are not like the common odd 'hypnogogic' sensations that many people experience during transitions from waking to sleep or vice versa.

Schizophrenic people describe the voices as providing a running commentary of their behaviors and intentions in their heads, or as commanding presences telling them to do or not do certain things. Frequently, the voices are highly negative and critical in tone and attempt to humiliate patients.

Unlike hallucinations, which are sensory in nature, delusions are false fixed beliefs that misinterpret events and relationships. They may originate based on hallucinations, or from faulty suppositions and interpretations of events that either happened or were believed to have happened but which have no basis in reality.

Delusions vary widely in their themes; they may be persecutory, referential (about oneself), somatic (involving the body), religious, erotomanic (involving sexuality), or grandiose in nature.

A persecutory delusion involves the belief that the sufferer is being stalked, tricked, framed, or hunted in some fashion. A common persecutory delusion many patients share is that the press, colleagues or spy institutions are after them.

Referential delusions involve the belief that certain public communications in fact contain specific hidden messages meant for the schizophrenic patient alone. A patient may believe that another country's leader gesture has personal meaning for them, for example, or that song lyrics contain a special personal message. When patients can demonstrate some insight that their referential delusions are possibly not true, the delusions can be called "ideas of reference". When they take on the force of delusions, they are termed "delusions of reference".

Somatic delusions typically revolve around patients expressing 'knowledge' that they have a terrible illness (of a physical and possibly bizarre variety; not schizophrenia).

Religious delusions involve patients' belief that they have a special relationship with God normally reserved for bible or mythic figures, or with the spiritual world. Patients may state that they are the incarnation of the archangel Michael, for instance. They may complain of demon possession, of being able to speak to God directly and hear replies, or to be in communication with a spirit from another dimension. Patients may believe that they are God, or His chosen messenger.

Erotomanic delusions are social delusions involving false ideas and feelings about relationships that may not actually exist. Patients may believe that a famous actor or actress is in love with them, for example. They may believe that their actual spouse or partner has cheated on them when this has not actually occurred. Patients may also believe that people they don't want anything to do with desire to have sexual contact with them. In bizarre cases, patients may hallucinate that people have sexual organs in wrong places.

Patient's grandiose delusions consist of them believing that they are a significant figure in the world, such as a movie star, political leader, or someone incredibly wealthy and powerful.

Many times, delusions will involve more than one of these categories at once. For instance, patients who think they are the Messiah, are expressing a delusion that is simultaneously religious, grandiose and persecutory, for example. This sort of mixing is normal, although there is usually one theme that is dominant above the others.

Hallucinations and delusions generally can be described as being either plausible or bizarre. Plausible delusions are those that might possibly be consistent with reality if reality were slightly different than it actually is, while bizarre delusions are completely inconsistent with reality and highly unlikely to ever actually occur.

Frequently, the combination of hallucinations and delusions go hand in hand. This is to say, delusion of persecution may be supported by 'evidence' derived from hallucinated voices, or a belief that one is the archangel may be supported by evidence from "God's" voice. The two symptoms interact, creating mental chaos and an atmosphere for psychosis and the loss of reality. That said, genius people made some crazy ideas become everyone else’s reality.

The only reason geniuses are willing and able to keep going through what feels like a self-perpetuated fantasy is because they want to see their vision come to life. Thereby, eventually earning themselves the title of the chosen one.

Food for thought!