Influencing and being influenced: the other side of 'bizarre delusions'. 1. Analysis of the concept.

The psychopathological validity of the current concept 'bizarre delusion' is questioned. A review of the literature reveals that the traditional category 'ego disorders'--though preferable to 'bizarre delusion'--is also biased, taking into account mainly 'passivity experiences' of the kind of 'Gemacht', eclipsing experiences of active influence on external reality. Although anecdotal records of activity experiences in schizophrenic psychoses have been reported since Kraepelin, any general systematization is lacking.