A 19-year-old girl named Haley claims she’s nine months pregnant with baby Jesus, even after six tests and the lack of signs of pregnancy indicate otherwise.
Haley says that she has gained at least 22 pounds and that one night, the baby punched the bottom of her stomach. She also assures that she can feel the head of the child beneath her bellybutton.
Haley and her mother Kristi attended Dr. Phil’s show, but the mother instead told Dr. Phil that her daughter was delusional and a compulsive liar.
Reportedly, Haley delivered the news to her friends, family, and even the pastor at her local church. None of them believe that she’s pregnant.
“I don’t care what the home pregnancy test or a doctor says, when I give birth to my baby, no one is going to deny him because he’s my savior,” stated the girl on the show.
A case of psychological delusion
Instead, Kristi says that her daughter is delusional and a compulsive liar, as she has already assured that she would appear on American Idol and that Eminem was her biological father.
Dr. Phil had Haley take an ultrasound test on the show, which was performed by Travis Stork. Stork told Haley that she was not pregnant but actually had some air in her intestines.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Stork, but you can’t lie to Jesus,” said Haley while not believing in the diagnosis.
In the episode, Haley shows an erratic behavior, getting angry at anyone who tried to convince her that she was not pregnant at all. Her mom and her sister Adriana told Dr. Phil how Haley’s behavior has become erratic over the last few weeks, where she even “went off” and put her hands violently on her mom’s face. Haley tried to explain that her mother wanted to record her “being crazy.”
“I can’t keep living like this. We have to treat her like she’s actually pregnant to avoid conflict. I’m hoping Dr. Phil can let me know if this is part of her act or does she really need help,” stated Kristi prior to attending Dr. Phil’s show. She also revealed that Haley was on pregnant woman’s Medicaid.
Then, it was discovered that Haley and Adriana had suffered from an abusive childhood. Her sister did receive psychological treatment while Haley did not. Dr. Phil then directed Haley to a psychologist to be treated for her delusion disorder.
Delusions are believed to be based on cognitive processing, where people’s view of themselves is distorted and is projected onto others with a clear separation of reality. There’s also defensive delusions, where people predisposed to the disorder may show delusional beliefs whenever maintaining a high self-esteem becomes difficult if not impossible. Perhaps Haley’s claim that she was pregnant with Jesus was a way of giving importance to something inside of her. That coincidentally is not her as a person, but the “baby” she’s carrying which she even referred to as “my savior.”
Source: Dr. Phil