Intensive care delirium

12/12/18 • 14 min

Clinical psychologist Professor Daniel Freeman continues his exploration of delusions, looking at both historic and contemporary case studies.

In this programme he hears a case from 1892, of a patient at the Victorian psychiatric hospital Bethlem in London who believed that people were telephoning into her ears. And he meets a man who experienced delusions of being dead and under attack as a consequence of being in a hospital intensive care unit.

Produced by Victoria Shepherd and Eve Streeter A Greenpoint Production for BBC Radio 4

Clinical psychologist Professor Daniel Freeman continues his exploration of delusions, looking at both historic and contemporary case studies.

Produced by Victoria Shepherd and Eve Streeter A Greenpoint Production for BBC Radio 4

Previous Episode

Grand Passions

Psychologist and therapist Professor Daniel Freeman explores the history of delusions - strongly held, preoccupying false beliefs – with cases from the archives and first-hand testimonies from people who have experienced delusional thinking. Conversations usually confined to the clinic room.

In recent years, delusions have started to emerge as a field of study in their own right, and Daniel has been at the forefront of new research and treatment for the past 20 years. His aim is to make delusions more understandable and explicable.

In this programme Daniel hears how in 1921, Gaetan Gatien De Clerambault, a French psychiatrist, published a landmark paper detailing the delusion that became commonly known as ‘erotomania’. The case study featured ‘Lea Anne B’ a 53-year-old milliner who became convinced that the English King George V was in love with her.

And a contemporary contributor shares her experience of the belief that she had to save the world from the Millennium Bug.

Produced by Victoria Shepherd and Eve Streeter A Greenpoint production for BBC Radio 4

Next Episode

Delusions of the body

Clinical psychologist Professor Daniel Freeman explores cases of delusions - strongly held, preoccupying false beliefs.

In this series he unearths case studies from the archives dating back to the Renaissance, he meets people who have recently experienced delusions, and finds out about new thinking in this relatively little-known field from psychologists and psychiatrists.

Distressing concerns about the body often feature in the content of delusions. Although unusual examples, Renaissance case studies of people who believed they had frogs living in their belly or that they are made out of glass or butter can be viewed as hypochondriacal delusions. In hypochondriacal delusions people erroneously believe that their body is unhealthy, rotten, or diseased.

But there are also people who are unaware at first that they do have a physical illness and that it is a physical illness that is leading to delusions.

Daniel meets Sarah, who shares her story.

Produced by Victoria Shepherd and Eve Streeter A Greenpoint Production for BBC Radio 4