A patient presents with one month history of abnormal hallucination and delusion. The patient lacks the insight to his changed behaviour. Likely diagnosis is –
**Core Concept**
The patient's presentation suggests a psychotic disorder characterized by a break from reality, involving hallucinations and delusions. This condition is often associated with a lack of insight, where the patient is unaware of their altered behavior.
**Why the Correct Answer is Right**
The patient's symptoms are consistent with schizophrenia, a chronic and severe mental disorder. The presence of hallucinations and delusions, along with a lack of insight, is a hallmark of this condition. Schizophrenia is thought to result from an imbalance in neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine and serotonin, which play a crucial role in regulating mood, cognition, and perception.
**Why Each Wrong Option is Incorrect**
**Option A:** This option is incorrect because it does not specifically address the patient's psychotic symptoms. Depression, while a common psychiatric condition, typically presents with mood disturbances, not hallucinations and delusions.
**Option B:** This option is incorrect because it is a type of personality disorder, which does not typically present with hallucinations and delusions. Personality disorders are characterized by enduring patterns of thought and behavior that deviate from cultural norms.
**Option C:** This option is incorrect because it refers to a specific type of delusional disorder, which is characterized by a single, fixed delusion. The patient's presentation suggests a more complex psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia.
**Clinical Pearl / High-Yield Fact**
A key feature of schizophrenia is the presence of negative symptoms, such as social withdrawal and apathy, which can be just as debilitating as positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions.
**Correct Answer: C. Schizophrenia.**