i want to first talk about what a delusion is and the causes.
"According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, APA, 2000) and to the dominant theory of delusion formation in cognitive psychology (Coltheart, 2005), a delusion is a belief held with conviction and rarely challenged or revised. Delusional beliefs are typically implausible and unsupported by evidence (Bortolotti, 2010). As clinical delusions are symptoms of schizophrenia, dementia, and other psychiatric disorders, it is also important to add that they tend to disrupt day-to-day functioning (McKay, Langdon & Coltheart, 2005).*" please note that 9 times out of 10, you do not know you are in a delusional state when it is happening, until after the fact. these underlinings will make sense later. delusion of grandeur, or grandiose delusion, is a delusion characterized by a false belief in one's power or importance(thinking youre a diety, god, rich, indestructible, etc), and this will effect the way you function. people experiencing delusion of grandeur are known to cause self harm, e.g., believing one is invincible and stepping into traffic, or believing one is Jesus and will therefore be crucified*. delusions need to be treated by professionals and sometimes medications. you cannot have a delusion without a psychotic disorder. (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder) there are also other disorders that have been known to cause delusions like dementia, parkinsons disease, and delirium. personality disorders can also display psychotic-like symptoms (ppd and bpd).
delusional attachments "A Delusional attachment is a term used to refer to a character/item/person/entity that someone experiences delusions of being. Keep in mind that it was not coined by a Doctor.[*] (https://delusionalattachments.carrd.co)" notice my first reference to a d/a(delusional attachment) is a carrd... anyway. this is not the same as an identity delusion. (Delusional misidentification syndromes (DMSs) are delusional phenomena where individuals believe that one has been altered or replaced*) and you cannot be diagnosed with an identity delusion(or DMS) by it self(as far as i know, ive since lost the reference to back this up.) this is not a medical term used by professionals. this term was coined by a twitter user in 2020 for personal usage, who was homophobic and racefaking* (this carrd is not a reliable source and has misinformation about delusions.) "Delusional attachments can be constant/recurrent, or they can be episodic(https://das.crd.co/#info)" the first statement is not true for real delusions. delusions strictly come in episodes.* i would also encourage you not to use the information in that carrd. there is so much misinformation in it that i dont feel like getting into. there is no symptoms of d/as that i am finding. all that i can say is that people experiencing delusional attachments get upset when you tell them they are not the character, theyll appear almost triggered (confusion, anger, hostility, sadness). they will display traits of the character they are delusionally attached to, speak and act like them as if theyre roleplaying, or as if it is something they identify with. there is no self danger to d/as, unlike real delusions. people with d/as will almost always know they are in a delusional state, which is not the same for people experiencing real delusions. people who are delusionally attached to a character will appear hostile and extremely rude. this is not the case with people suffering a delusion, if you told someone experiencing grandiose delusion, that they are not a god, diety, etc, they will ignore you. this is not the case with those with d/as. people with d/as will become hostile and rude towards you if you tell them otherwise.
defensive interests this is extremely important to the research of d/as. a defensive interest, or a DInterest, is when a neurodivergent individual will become very passionate about their special interests/hyperfixations to the point it causes symptoms of being triggered (anger, hostility, confusion, sadness, fear) if somebody else claims to also like their special interest. this (ive noticed by hanging around many other autistics/neurodivergents) is very common amongst people with adhd, and asd. a very great explanation on this phenomenon is, yes, a carrd, i know. terrible, but this is a new term, and unlike the term d/a, is not harmful. https://defensiveinterest.carrd.co/ special interests are something many neurodivergent people experience. from my and others experience, sometimes looking at media of our sp/in(special interest) can make us physically hurt. sp/ins are very extreme in some cases, basically. so a defensive interest is definitely possible.
defensive interests and delusional attachment similarities defensive interests are not controllable. this is also the case for delusional attachments. someone experiencing a defensive interest will feel hostile and irritated when someone else has the same interest as them. this is also seen in delusional attachments, where the person with a d/a will become hostile and irritated when someone else has the same d/a/kin. as the carrd of defensive interests explains, trauma is a likely component as many people have found great comfort or escapism in their DInterest, using it to cope with a real-world problem. this seems the same as a d/a, they find comfort in the character.
why it is harmful to use the term delusional attachment
this person explains this beautifully.
as delusional attachments arent medically recognized, or even CLOSE to being considered a delusion, ever, it is extremely ableist to those with real psychotic/delusional disorders.
the term was coined by a problematic person, nuff said.
there is nothing inherantly dangerous about d/as. this is not the case for real delusions as delusions can almost always be damaging to ones self or others around them.
there are many things pointing to the fact d/as are a normal identity for those with asd/adhd.(as stated before it is linked to defensive interests)
the medical terms delusions, and psychosis, have been watered down for years but have been even more watered down because of this term. "obviously, this hurts actually-psychotic people in many ways."
defensive character attachment
a defensive character attachment, or a dca, is a term that i coined after doing all of this research. a person with a defensive character attachment will have all the same symptoms as a defensive interest, except its caused by a character you identify as.
like a defensive interest, a defensive character attachment is uncontrollable. you do not choose to have this reaction when others are your dca. you cant help it, much like d/as. do not try to "detach" or "ground" yourself as it is okay to feel this way, but know that you cant help others who have the same dca/kin. thats okay. it takes time to accept that and be okay with "doubles", this is a long process and just like d/as, its "anti-recovery" to encourage or ignore the negative symptoms of your d/a, or in this case, your dca.
doubles can cause symptoms of being triggered (irritability, hostility, confusion, fear, sadness). this cannot be helped, but can be managed.
"reality testing" isnt necessary because d/as, or what i now want to call dcas, are not psychosis/delusions.
"dcas are stressful. kin community spaces may feel inaccessible to you as you are convinced others are going to try and one-up your intensity of kin(like saying they kin something more than you), knock you down or otherwise prove you to be wrong or inferior. You feel under threat around other kins." altered quote by the carrd im getting defensive interest information from. i couldnt quite put it into words.
and lastly of course, dcas are different for everyone. "They can have different causes, different symptoms, and are generally experienced in a variety of ways." quote from the carrd im getting defensive interest information from.
overall the term delusional attachment is very harmful and is widely spread misinformation. this is why i decided to create a rentry, as rentry is easy to access, and anonymous for my comfort and safety. i am a person who has experienced mania induced psychosis due to fluoxetine. "fluoxetine has been reported to induce mania.*" i had a GD(grandiose delusion) that i was satan. i have also had a "delusional attachment" to one of my ocs. i can state right here right now that d/as are not the same as GD. from my own experience. this is why i developed a term that can be used without conflict, because it doesnt appropriate a real, serious mental disability. as defensive interests are definitely real(from my own experience and knowing others experience on the matter), i wanted to create a similar term because i noticed the shocking resemblance of d/as and defensive interests.
special thanks whoever made this doc! this person explains how d/as are not real fantastically. i wanted to give a shoutout to them because they were my inspiration for this rentry.