over-valued idea

Noun

overvalued idea (plural overvalued ideas)

1. A false or exaggerated and sustained belief that is maintained with much less than delusional intensity (i.e., the individual is able to acknowledge the possibility that the ideas may not be true). The belief is accompanied by a strong emotional response, that take priority over all other mental activity.
   • In Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Hypochondriasis, the person may have overvalued ideas that are difficult to distinguish from delusions; but people with these disorders generally recognize, at least to some degree, that their symptoms and thinking are irrational, even if they are dominated by...1987, American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-III-R), American Psychiatric Publishing, →ISBN, page 193