preliminary study of cultural contents of mentally disordered inpatient's delusions

objectives : considering the importance of delusions in diagnosing of psychosis and the role of culture in the forming of delusions this study investigates the content of delusions among psychotic patients. method: subjects were 250 psychotic patients (165 male, 85 female) who had been admitted to shahid esmaili center during 1992 – 1996. 75% of them were aged 15 – 45, 106 of subjects were single and 104 of them were married. research instrument was a questionnaire consisted of questions about type and content of delusions, hallucinations and demographic data. data were analyzed through descriptive methods. findings: this study indicated that persecutory delusions were the most prevalent type while grandiosity delusions stand at second rank. conclusion: although the content of delusions across different cultures are more or less the same, different aspects of cultures, nations and religions have an influential role on the content of delusions.