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GDs are characterized by fantastical beliefs that one is famous, omnipotent, wealthy, or otherwise very powerful. The delusions are generally fantastic and typically have a supernatural, science-fictional, or religious theme.

The presence of GDs in people with at least grammar or high school education was greater than lesser educated persons. Similarly, the presence of grandiose delusions in individuals who are the eldest is greater than in individuals who are the youngest.

According to the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for delusional disorder, grandiose-type symptoms include grossly exaggerated belief of:

self-worth
power[5]
knowledge
identity
exceptional relationship to a divinity or famous person.[6]

Grandiose delusions frequently serve a very positive function for the person of sustaining or increasing their self-esteem.

A variation in the occurrence of grandiosity delusions in schizophrenic patients across cultures has also been observed.[10][11] In research done by Appelbaum et al. it has been found that GDs appeared more commonly in patients with bipolar disorder (59%) than in patients with schizophrenia (49%), followed by presence in substance misuse disorder patients (30%) and depressed patients (21%).[2]

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder distinguished by a loss of contact with reality and the occurrence of psychotic behaviors, including hallucinations and delusions (unreal beliefs which endure even when there is contrary evidence).[22] Delusions in schizophrenia often develop as a response to the individual attempting to explain their hallucinations.[22]

Specifically, grandiose delusions are frequently found predominantly in paranoid schizophrenia, in which a person has an extremely exaggerated sense of his or her significance, personality, knowledge, or authority.

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Some examples of interventions performed to improve the patient's state were focus on specific themes, clarification of neologisms, and thought linkage.[32] During thought linkage, the patient is asked repeatedly by the therapist to explain his/her jumps in thought from one subject, to a completely different one.[32]