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[[Delusion]]s are usually defined in [[psychiatry]] as firmly held, incorrigible false beliefs, inconsistent with the information available with the beliefs of the [[subject]]'s social group.  [[Delusion]]s are the central [[clinical]] feature of [[paranoia]], and can range from single ideas to complex networks of [[belief]]s.

In [[Lacan]]ian terms, the [[paranoiac]] [[lack]]s the [[Name-of-the-Father]], and the [[delusion]] is the [[paranoiac]]'s attempt to fill the [[hole]] left in his [[symbolic|symbolic universe]] by the [[absence]] of this primordial [[signifier]].   Thus the [[delusion]] is not the "illness" of [[paranoia]] itself, but rather, the [[paranoiac]]'s attempt to heal himself, to pull himself out of the breakdown of the [[symbolic|symbolic universe]] by means of a [[substitute formation]].

[[Lacan]] insists on the significance of the [[delusion]] and stresses the importance of attending closely to the [[psychosis|psychotic]] [[patient]]'s own account of his [[delusion]].   The [[delusion]] is a form of [[discourse]], and must therefore be understood as "a field of [[signification]] that has organised a certain [[signifier]]."<ref>{{S3}} p. 121</ref>   For this reason all [[delusion]]al phenomena are "clarified in reference to the functions and structure of [[speech]]."<ref>{{S3}} p. 310</ref>

The [[paranoid]] [[delusion]]al construction may take many forms. One common form, the "delusion of persecution," revolves around the [[Other of the Other]], a hidden [[subject]] who pulls the strings of the [[big Other]] (the [[symbolic]] [[order]]), and who controls our thoughts, conspires against us, watches us, etc.