Differences between delusions and intrusive/obsessive thoughts?

How do you tell if you're having intrusive/obsessive thoughts, delusions or whether this is something else? I have a bunch of things I believe in that I'm beginning to realise are odd, like that:

• There are cameras hidden around my house/people are watching me (including people/animals in photographs and pictures, and toys)
• There are people in my room or house that will kill me if I'm not constantly on guard, or that my family members are going to get killed so I have to constantly watch over them.
• Horror story-like things are about to happen to me (although I don't believe in supernatural things otherwise), such as my reflection in the mirror being a ghost/demon or being dead (or something else that's very scary)
• If I think of other people, they'll be able to see where I am and what I'm doing. Sometimes I think that people can read my mind, though this one is less common and easier to dismiss.

They seem to be much more than normal beliefs, and although I can't logically support the beliefs, I completely believe in them even if I tell myself they're not true. They've resulted in me going to bed convinced that I'm going to be killed or will never wake up again, and are just generally creepy and very scary to experience.
I don't think I wrote this in the best way to explain just how weird this all is. I'll elaborate on this if needed, since there are some other things attached to this that aren't exactly normal, but I can't think what else to write right now. (I didn't know where to post this so sorry if it's in the wrong place).

Any help would be great.
Thanks.

well i looked this up and this is what i found..........

delusions are unshakable beliefs that persist regardless of how illogical they are or how much evidence you may find to the contrary. you believe them firmly, simply because you believe them.

obsession is just rumination. playing thoughts over and over in your mind. you may or may not belive the idea but you cant shake it.

i hope this helps..........

Thanks, from the definitions you've given it sounds less like intrusive thoughts or anything OCD related, and more like delusions. But I wasn't sure if they could be considered delusions because I can consider the possibility that what I believe isn't true, even though I still somehow do completely believe that they are true. I don't really know tbh.
It was just that certain things I experience seem more like intrusive thoughts. Like one time I suddenly started seeing scary images in my thoughts, but it didn't feel like something I would think of or could imagine normally. I don't know how to explain it, but the images were completely different and unusual, and I felt sure that they had been "placed" in my head. It's only happened a few times though, so it's not much of a concern right now.
(Would this be better maybe to discuss in the Schizophrenia and psychosis forum then here?)

I have traits of OCD, the obsession thoughts are more like "I'm afraid the house will burn down" "Someone will break in"

I'm Schizoaffective Bipolar Type and the delusions were:
"The government is after me"
"There are cameras hidden in my house watching me"
"People are out to kill me"

Hello Blue Bird. I'd like to say you ARE NOT Schizoaffective Bipolar Type but perhaps you HAVE a Schizoaffective disorder. We are not what we have were are people that are dealing with whatever it is and that is different than what you are.

Thanks, that is true

So I have ocd, and I definitely experience what you described in your original post. Especially the idea that people/animals/toys (as well as possible electronics/tiny cameras) can see me, or listen to my thoughts. My ocd is mostly not about these things (I also have a lot of compulsive behaviors), and I honestly can't say for sure whether these are obsessions or delusions, as I've wondered the same thing myself, but I think the fact that I know it's a silly thing to think, even though I can't shake it, it still makes it an obsession rather than a delusion.
To me a delusion would be something that you absolutely believed and could not be convinced of otherwise, such as that the floor was made of lava, or that you were the devil, or that your fingers could shoot lasers (these are all real examples that I have heard of from other people).
So to answer your question, and relate, I think these are obsessive thoughts that you are experiencing, since you seem to be aware that they are not logical, even if you can't shake the thought (I generally can't either).
Hope this helped!

So are intrusive thoughts more anxiety based? Like more about worrying about something happening, whereas delusions are completely believing that something will happen? Or am I completely wrong?
Blue_Bird, you mentioned that your obsessive thoughts and delusions have different themes, so is that generally a good way to tell them apart, or do they manifest differently in other ways?
Thanks.

I think so, I know the difference because when I'm thinking logically I can tell myself there's only a small percentage that would happen, etc. When it's a delusion I can't be convinced that it isn't true, even by other people (therapists, doctors) it takes up my whole life and I'm paranoid and there's usually other stuff going on like hallucinations and symptoms of psychosis but that's because of the sza disorder. A doctor would be the best person to ask about this, they can tell whether you're delusional or not.

To me the obsessive thoughts are anxiety based. As it was mentioned, a common theme is being afraid that the stove was left on and that the house will be burned down while you are out of the house. This can lead to the compulsion of needing to go back (sometimes over and over again) to check that the stove is turned off, or it can just mean that you are obsessing over that thought without doing anything about it. Still, it is generally an anxiety based thing with ocd. Like with the obsessive thought of a family member being harmed leads to the compulsive action of checking (and re-checking over and over again) on that family member to make sure that they are safe.

As Blue_Bird said though, a doctor would be the best person to distinguish delusions from obsessions. I know I have ocd, but I still question whether I also have delusions at the same time, so it's always good to talk to a professional.

Right now seems like a good time to talk about this, because the beliefs are currently in full swing (yay!)
Decided to go to bed (because I have 6 hours until I have to wake up), but I'm convinced that something is going to kill me. Not helped by the sudden noise that came from somewhere in my room. Near panic attacks are not very helpful to having restful sleep.

Anyway, my opinion on what the beliefs are is swimging more towards obsessive thoughts. There are some compulsive-type things I do in response to the thoughts, but I'll have to talk about them tomorrow.
Hopefully I'm actually going to sleep this time.

Sleep sounds good, I hope you rest well. I totally understand being spooked by a random unknown noise. I'm hyper-spookable if that makes sense. I'm very jumpy, and then I get paranoid about it. I once could just make out the shape of a tree in the dark, and it looked odd to me, not like a tree should, and I got so creeped out by it that I had to run really fast to my car (it was right by a friend's driveway) anytime I had to go near it, and try not to look at it until it was out of sight because it made me so uncomfortable. I even asked the friend to walk me to my car many times. Ah well.

I think full blown delusions from OCD psychosis can be lessened over time through practice unless you develop the psychotic disease of the brain. It would make sense that OCD is on the spectrum if insight, therefore, completely different.

It could not be though. But people (like myself) have gone MANY years with the same delusion like ideas that we somehow hallucinate from a reflex portion of our brains. In my case, it started to come from my subconscious mind where colours would be able to stab chair that turns making times opposite breakfast just an example that I made up on the spot but that was psychosis.

When I didn't have psychosis, the OCD made me react the exact same way and was no different situationally. There was a fear response, I had absolutely no control what so ever but with the psychosis, I barely remembered a damn thing like I was in a dream and I could only recall bits of information. Most can't even recall the voices that they hear. It's not really connected to the conscious mind like OCD psychosis is.

This is why, to date, there is no proven technique to analyze and determine whether a schizophrenic has OCD and vice versa when examining delusions. Only the person knows deep down but that has been fought against so many times that the insight has switched insight with the delusion.

Or as I said, OCD could be the same after it evolves into full blown psychosis and the quasi psychosis is the exact same in this theory.

I'm confused too I really hate the paradox.