Is Imran Khan a Patient of Persecutory Delusion?

HealthIs Imran Khan a Patient of Persecutory Delusion?

Lahore, Pakistan: The former Prime Minister Imran Khan in his Twitter message on July 26, 2023, claimed that he was sent a box of shoes from someone he knew, it was delivered to his house by their driver, and two days later the police turned up at the driver’s house, harassing and threatening his poor family and forcing him to say that he came to deliver a box of drugs at my place.

He is accusing the state of Pakistan of planning to implicate him in drug cases calling investigative officers “criminals” and “incompetent to important positions”.

Tagging the government as a “criminal enterprise”, he claimed that official machinery wants to get him disqualified or jailed.

Has he been caught red-handed while receiving drugs that he allegedly uses or he is just weaving another storyline of the “Imran Series” an Urdu spy fiction novel series that was very popular in the past? The series was created by Pakistani writer Ibn-e-Safi. Ali Imran was the pivotal character, a comical secret agent who controlled the secret service as X-2 but appeared to work as a normal member of the secret service. The answer to this question would arrive soon.

Imran Khan is famous for weaving imaginative stories and selling them to his followers that buy his words instantly as they are followers of a cult. There is news on social media that Imran Khan had allegedly manhandled the former first lady. The reason for this alleged story is given by social media that Imran Khan thinks that the former first lady wants to harm him and his reputation. If such news is true then one can comprehend that Khan might have developed symptoms of “Capgras delusion”. In this delusion, patients believe that an imposter has come inside the body of some loved-one. Julie Davis in her article “What Is Capgras Syndrome?” writes that some people develop it after using large amounts of recreational drugs or alcohol.

In this psychiatric disorder, the patient holds a delusion that a friend, spouse, parent, another close family member, or pet has been replaced by an identical impostor. It is named after Joseph Capgras the French psychiatrist who first described the disorder. The delusional misidentification syndrome is a kind of a class of delusional beliefs that involves the misidentification of people, places, or objects (like Germany is a neighbor of Japan). It can occur in acute, transient, or chronic forms. This delusion is mostly common in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. It presents often in individuals with a neurodegenerative disease, particularly at an older age. It has also been reported as occurring in association with hypothyroidism, and migraine attacks.

Psychiatrists believe that people who have a high level of imagination and the art of storytelling have a high risk of Psychiatric disorders like delusional misidentification syndrome. Moreover, people who use drugs for feeling “high” can also become victims of this disorder.

 


However, if the information provided by former prime minister Imran Khan is true and not another crafted story that the driver who delivered something at his residence is under arrest, then the media should wait for some interesting information to arrive.

It may be remembered that Imran Khan has been claiming that the state of Pakistan wants to kill and there had been two attempts of killing him in the past. Interestingly, delusional misidentification syndrome is co-related with “Persecutory Delusion”. Patients of persecutory delusions believe that harm is going to occur and that other people intend for them to be harmed. They may say things such as “someone wants to murder me” despite evidence to the contrary.

Amy Morin who is a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and host of the Mentally Stronger podcast writes in her article “Dealing With Persecutory Delusions Paranoia, Persecution, and False Beliefs” that such patients think that their co-workers are sabotaging their work or they believe the government is trying to kill them, persecutory delusions vary in severity. Some people with persecutory delusions believe they have to go to great lengths to stay safe—and consequently, they may struggle to function in everyday life. While everyone may experience some false beliefs about people being “out to get them” at times, for people with persecutory delusions, their beliefs take a serious toll on their lives. Their delusions are usually a symptom of a mental illness that requires professional help. These delusions are most commonly associated with schizophrenia, but they also may appear during manic episodes of bipolar disorder or with severe depression with psychosis.

Amy Morin writes that an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, as well as alcohol and drug use, can contribute to persecutory delusions. Is it the case with Imran Khan?

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