The pre-manifest stage in the first psychotic attacks with religious content in juvenile age

Abstract

To identify the conditions for the formation of religious delusions in adolescence, to analyze the correlations between religiosity at the pre-manifest stage and subsequent manifest psychotic episode with religious delusion. With the clinical-psychopathological, statistical, and psychometric methods, 51 male patients of adolescent age (16-25 years) with manifest psychotic attack with delusions of religious content (F20, F25 according to ICD-10) - delusions of sin, delusions of devil possesion, antagonistic and messianic delusions, and oneiroid with religious content were studied. The majority of patients were not traditionally religious before the first symptoms of a mental illness, and the religiosity itself differed from the traditional one in many respects. The most important factors in the formation of psychotic attacks with religious content are hereditary burden, premorbid personality structure and high scores on the Premorbid Adjustment Scale. Further studies of pre-manifest stages on a larger sample of patients are needed to confirm the results of the study.