Psychosis patients ‘living in metaphor’: New study radically shifts ideas about delusions

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University of Birmingham 2026

A new study argues that delusions in psychosis are shaped by emotion and language, causing people to “live in metaphor” rather than reflect a faulty brain. It notes that about 2–3% of people in the UK and Australia will experience psychosis, with first episodes typically in the late teens to early thirties, and delusions often described as fixed beliefs. Published in The Lancet Psychiatry by researchers from Birmingham, Melbourne, York, and Orygen, the work reframes delusions as emotionally driven experiences with potential implications for Neurodivergent and Autism perspectives.

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University of Birmingham 2026

A new study argues that delusions in psychosis are shaped by emotion and language, causing people to “live in metaphor” rather than reflect a faulty brain. It notes that about 2–3% of people in the UK and Australia will experience psychosis, with first episodes typically in the late teens to early thirties, and delusions often described as fixed beliefs. Published in The Lancet Psychiatry by researchers from Birmingham, Melbourne, York, and Orygen, the work reframes delusions as emotionally driven experiences with potential implications for Neurodivergent and Autism perspectives.

View Resource