Alex, I don't think one can have a delusion that Dear Departed Aunt Mavis talks to one because no one can know if Aunt Mavis is able to talk to one or not; people get squeamish around religion and whether or not one can "talk to" God, etc., so why not Aunt Mavis. I think delusions have to be proveable? All they could prove is that Aunt Mavis isn't talking to him/her right now, and if the person kept insisting she was, that would be the delusion (on top of the hallucination since it would be "hearing"-related)?

Pachy, Brina, telling her story, just starts there as a child with that delusion. I imagine her therapist might be trying to help her find why she had that or rather, what significance it had to her? But since the black dog no longer bothers her I don't know that that particular "problem" would be very explorable other than as a "beginning" of problems maybe, don't know. I don't know if young children know why they believe some things, or at least, I don't know if they're able to explain?

Labels are sometimes helpful as they can narrow and define a little, where to look for solutions? One can't work on a problem or difficulty very well until it can be seen and expressed clearly. Brina asked if her hallucinations could come from a childhood head trauma and yes, people with childhood head traumas can get hallucinations as a side effect. That's good to know versus deciding she's bipolar which also can produce hallucinations?