A patient recently diagnosed with depression describes her whole life, including periods collateral history confirms were happy and successful, as "one long failure from the beginning." She holds no delusional beliefs of any kind. Before revealing the answer: is this a retrospective delusion?
No, this is retrospective falsification rather than a retrospective delusion. A retrospective delusion requires that the distortion specifically serve and extend an existing delusional belief; here there is no delusion at all, only a general, mood-driven colouring of the past consistent with her current depressed state.
References
- Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Ch. 5, 'Disorders of Memory'.