Psychosis rears its head in many different ways in different patients. Some people experiencing psychosis may have positive experiences, like seeing a deceased loved one or hearing his or her voice. But others have much more negative experiences, which can lead to harmful thoughts and behaviors and contribute to the stigmas we place on people with psychosis.
Psychosis is a state of altered reality. These states may be constant, occur in episodes or be isolated events.
A person with psychosis might experience hallucinations, delusions or disorganized thought or speech, among other, less common symptoms. These states may even cause a lack of trust in people or organizations because these delusions have led someone to believe that a person is threatening them or that an organization is “after” them.
Delusions and hallucinations are often grouped together but they are, in fact, different from each other.
Delusions are false beliefs, while hallucinations are false perceptions. An example of a delusion is a person believing that the CIA is investigating them when they, in fact, aren’t; an example of a hallucination would be someone falsely believing that a CIA agent is at his or her door. Both deals with untrue ideas of reality and are symptoms of psychosis.
Though these experiences are not real, they seem real to the patient, which threatens the patient’s physical, emotional and mental health.
Psychosis is essentially the inability to read the difference between the real and the unreal, which can be a symptom of a larger mental or physical disorder. Obviously, this can disrupt your everyday life and cause your work, personal and social life to suffer.
Psychosis can be triggered by injury, stress, drug or alcohol use or abuse and other factors. Other symptoms of psychosis include wandering thoughts, depression, anxiety, insomnia, oversleeping, withdrawal from loved ones and, at the very worst, suicidal thoughts and actions. These symptoms can cause people to feel anxious, scared, overwhelmed and exhausted. Patients may feel lonely, isolated and misunderstood which can cause them to become frustrated since they themselves may not even fully understand what is happening to them.
If you have these symptoms, do not simply dismiss them. Just like any disease, psychosis can be treated, but first, you have to ask for help. Reach out to us and allow us to help you find peace of mind.