Delusional disorder in a 25 year old Filipino male diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa: A case report

ABSTRACT

@#Delusional disorder is an illness presenting with ideas of false beliefs based on incorrect inference about external reality that persist despite the evidence to the contrary and these beliefs are not ordinarily accepted by other members of the person's culture or subculture1 • 2 • The patient is a 25-year old, male, single, former massage therapist, 1st in a brood of 3 children from a province in Visayas, Philippines, brought to the clinic due to talking incoherently with inconsistent responses. This presented after competing in Palarong Pambansa for the disabled. He participated in the blind category since he was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of genetic disorders that affect the retina's ability to respond to light. This inherited disease causes a slow loss of vision, beginning with decreased night vision and loss of peripheral (side) vision, and eventually blindness3 • He won many competitions, after which started hearing voices accusing him of cheating. This persisted for months which lead him to develop incoherent responses when talked to, which prompted his relatives to bring him for psychiatric consult. This is an interesting case of patient with a psychiatric condition who also presented with a degenerative disease.