Psychosis

What is psychosis?

A person who is suffering from an episode of psychosis can have problems recognising what is real and can have difficulty thinking clearly as they normally would. When someone is affected in this way they may have unusual or strange ideas, they may hear or see things which are not real and they may have problems managing their emotions.They may also have difficulties organising their thoughts so that their speech may seem disorganised and illogical at times. Psychosis has also been described as a condition that causes a person to lose contact with reality. Psychosis can severely disrupt a person's life. The person experiencing psychosis may have difficulty maintaining their usual level of functioning in school, work or homelife and it can also interfere with a person's normal development.

Major signs and symptoms:

False beliefs e.g : people believing they have special powers
Hallucinations e.g : hearing voices when there is nobody else around.
Confused thinking e.g : difficult to have a conversation with someone
Changed behaviour e.g : . It is also possible that a person can become overactive or behave in a way that is unusual for them

Types of Psychosis

There are several different types of psychosis but when an individual experiences their first episode it is not always possible to determine which type they are suffering from. This is because many of the criteria used to identify a particular type are as yet unknown, for example the duration and severity of symptoms. Also, a comprehensive assessment is more likely to lead to a proper diagnosis. Mental health professionals will use information from several sources including the individuals own account, family history and physical examinations to create a picture of what is going on for the individual at that time. All assessments are completely confidential except in extreme situations.

Each individual's experience of psychosis may differ and although two people may have a similar diagnosis, their symptoms may not be the same and they may be affected by psychosis in a different way.

Here is a description of some of the types of psychosis:

-Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a psychotic illness defined by the presence of the symptoms described before for a period of at least six months although these symptoms may last longer. Contrary to popular belief, a person with schizophrenia is not a person with multiple personalities.

-Brief Reactive Psychosis

Psychotic symptoms arise suddenly, usually in response to a major stress. In contrast to other types of psychosis, the person may not have any of the common signs mentioned before and as the name suggests, the symptoms usually last over a shorter period such as a few days or a week. An individual experiencing this type of psychosis will usually make a quick recovery.

-Organic Psychosis

Psychosis can occur as a result of a physical illness when normal brain function is disrupted. Such illnesses that have psychotic symptoms are AIDS or a brain tumour but not all people who suffer from these physical illnesses will experience psychosis.

-Delusional Disorder

This type of psychotic illness is characterised by just one psychotic symptom, delusions. This is when a person holds strong beliefs that do not fit in with other people's interpretation of reality. The person may begin to act on these beliefs and this is normally when the illness comes to the attention of others.

-Bipolar Disorder

People who are affected by this disorder experience extreme mood swings. They may experience highs (mania) and lows (depression) and psychosis can appear during either phase. The psychotic thinking usually fits in with the person's mood at the time, for example, if people are overly excitable they may believe they have special talents that other people do not have.

-Psychotic Depression

In this type of psychosis the main feature is a severe depression but with psychotic symptoms happening at the same time. It is different from bipolar disorder in that the individual does not experience any mania.

-Schizoaffective Disorder

This type of psychotic illness is similar to bipolar and psychotic depression in that there are symptoms of a mood disorder (depression) and a psychotic disorder. The difference is that the symptoms of either psychosis or mood disturbance occurs at the same time but there is usually a period of time when there is psychosis present but not mood disturbance. Throughout the total duration of illness, the mood disturbance represents a significant portion of time spent unwell.

-Hallucinations and illusion

Hallucinations are of several types but ordinarily are auditory, visual or tactile (in that order). The person suffering from auditory hallucinations "hears" other people speaking words that they aren't speaking. Visual hallucinations are "sights" perceived that aren't there. And someone suffering from tactile hallucinations "feels" objects touching (or under) the skin that do not exist.Hallucinating can be thought of as dreaming while awake. Dreams occur in the unconscious mind while the person is asleep. But an hallucination occurs in both the unconscious mind and the conscious mind: the unconscious mind invades and overcomes the conscious mind, so that the person cannot distinguish unconscious experiences from conscious ones.
In a dream there are at least two levels of unconsciousness involved: a deeper level, where the dream is created, and a higher level, where the dream is experienced. During an auditory hallucination, the other person's "speech" is created at the deeper level of the psychotic’s unconscious mind, while the other person’s “speech” is experienced in the psychotic’s conscious mind (as opposed to the higher level of the normal person's unconscious mind).
The "speech" that is experienced in auditory hallucinations is “speech” that typically is negative in orientation; that is to say, the “speaker” is denigrating the psychotic person. The psychotic may "hear" the other person say, for instance, "You're a jerk". An auditory illusion is similar to an auditory hallucination.
Hallucinations and illusions are the result of a chronic and intense feeling of being controlled, which is the reason for the negativity. (Isolated people -- usually elderly -- with transient auditory/visual hallucinations may "hear"/"see" an old friend or relative.) Typically, the chronic feeling of being controlled is the result of abuse experienced as a child, whether intentionally inflicted or not.