What Is Psychosis?
Psychosis is defined as a collection of symptoms that affect the mind, where there is some loss of contact with reality. A person’s thoughts and perceptions are disrupted and make it difficult to differentiate between what is real and what is not.
It is important to note that psychosis is not a diagnosis by itself. There are several mental health conditions that may have psychotic symptoms. These include:
- Schizophrenia
- Schizoaffective disorder
- Schizophreniform disorder
- Brief psychotic disorder
- Delusional disorder
- Major depression
- Bipolar depression
- Substance use disorder
Several factors that can contribute to psychosis including:
- Stress/Distress
- Genetics
- Trauma
- Substance use
- Physical illness or injury
People with psychosis may experience:
- Hallucinations – perceiving things through the senses without an external cause.
- Hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, or feeling things that do not exist. (ex. hearing voices other do not)
- Delusions or false beliefs (ex. believing people on television are sending them special messages or that others are trying to hurt them)
- Incoherent or nonsense speech
- Behavior that is inappropriate for the situation.
Before psychosis develops, warning signs include:
- Suspiciousness, paranoid ideas, or uneasiness with others
- Trouble thinking clearly and logically
- Withdrawing socially and spending a lot more time alone
- Unusual or overly intense ideas, strange feelings, or a lack of feelings
- Decline in self-care or personal hygiene
- Disruption of sleep, including difficulty falling asleep and reduced sleep time
- Difficulty telling reality from fantasy
- Confused speech or trouble communicating
- Drop in grades or job performance
Other examples might include thinking or believing that
- Your thoughts are being controlled or read by someone else
- People on the street are watching and talking about you even though there is no evidence to support it
While many of us experience these types of thoughts, it’s important to think about when they interfere with daily living.
First Episode Psychosis
First-episode psychosis is generally regarded as the early period (up to five years) after the onset of psychotic symptoms. In many cases, first-episode psychosis impacts young people during their transition to early adulthood. Early treatment of psychosis, especially during the first episode, leads to better outcomes.