A client believes that healthcare providers are FBI agents and cameras monitor his apartment. This is best described as which symptom?

• A. Hallucinations.
• B. Delusions.
• C. Confabulation.
• D. Thought broadcasting.

Answer: (B)

Delusions are fixed, false beliefs held with strong conviction despite clear evidence to the contrary and not shared by others in the person’s culture. Believing that healthcare providers are FBI agents and that cameras monitor the apartment fits this pattern, as the belief persists despite reality and challenges. It’s not a hallucination, which would be a sensory experience (seeing or hearing something that isn’t there). It’s not confabulation, which is making up memories to fill gaps, nor thought broadcasting, which is the belief that one’s thoughts are being transmitted to others. This is delusional thinking.