In instances where a subject has a mental history of delusions or hallucinations, _____.

• A. Little weight should be placed on their behavioral symptoms
• B. Their symptoms should be given more weight
• C. They should be excluded from assessment
• D. They should be given equal weight to other indicators

Answer: (C)

When a person has a history of delusions or hallucinations, the reliability of their self-reported symptoms can be compromised because those internal experiences may not reflect objective reality. In evaluation, this makes it prudent to minimize reliance on their subjective reports and instead prioritize objective indicators, corroborating information, and standardized assessments. Excluding the self-reported symptoms from driving the conclusions helps prevent distorted conclusions based on internal experiences. The other approaches would either overweight or underweight these reports or treat them the same as others, which can bias the assessment.