Psychosis

Psychosis is a term that is used to describe a mental condition where somebody is unable to distinguish between reality and their imagination.

People who are experiencing psychosis are referred to as psychotic. People with psychosis often experience:

hallucinations - where you hear or see things that are not there, and
delusions - where you believe things that are untrue.

Psychosis is not a condition in itself. It is a symptom of other conditions. The most common cause of psychosis is a mental health condition such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (manic depression).

Psychosis can also be triggered by physical conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, or as a result of drug or alcohol abuse.

How long someone will experience a psychotic state of mind, known as a psychotic episode, will depend on the underlying causes. Drug- or alcohol-induced psychosis many only last for a few days. However, psychosis that is caused by schizophrenia or bipolar disorder may last indefinitely unless it's treated.

Symptoms

Hallucinations
A hallucination is when you think you perceive something that does not exist in reality. Hallucinations can occur in all five of your senses as outlined below.

•Sight - someone with psychosis may see colours and shapes, or imaginary people, or animals.
•Sounds - someone with psychosis may hear voices that are angry, unpleasant or sarcastic.
•Touch - a common psychotic hallucination is that insects are crawling on the skin.
•Smell - usually a strange, or unpleasant, smell.
•Taste - some people with psychosis have complained of having a constant unpleasant taste in their mouth.

Delusion
A delusion is having an unshakable belief in something that is implausible, bizarre or obviously untrue. There are two common types of psychotic delusion that are described below.

Paranoid delusion
A person with psychosis will often believe that an individual or organisation is making plans to hurt or kill them, which in turn can lead to unusual behaviour. For example, a person with psychosis may refuse to be in the same room as a mobile phone because they believe they are actually mind-control devices.

Delusions of grandeur
A person with psychosis may have delusions of grandeur where they believe that they have some imaginary power, or authority. For example, they may think they are president of a country, or that they have the power to bring people back from the dead.

Confusion of thought
People with psychosis often have disturbed, confused and disrupted patterns of thought. Signs of this include:

•their speech may be rapid and constant,
•the content of their speech appears random; they may switch from one topic to another in mid-sentence, and
•their train of thought may suddenly stop, resulting in an abrupt pause in conversation or activity.

Lack of insight
People who are experiencing a psychotic episode often totally unaware that their behaviour is in any way strange, or that the delusions or hallucinations that they are experiencing could be imaginary.

They may be capable of recognising delusional or bizarre behaviour in others, but lack the self-awareness to recognise it themself. A person with psychosis who is being treated in a psychiatric ward will often complain that all of their fellow patients are mentally ill while they are perfectly normal.

Causes

The causes of psychosis have three main classifications:

•psychosis caused by psychological conditions,
•psychosis caused by general medical conditions, and
•psychosis caused by substances, such as alcohol or drugs.

Psychological causes
The following conditions have been known to trigger psychotic episodes in some people:

•schizophrenia,
•bipolar disorder,
•severe stress or anxiety,
•severe depression, and
•lack of sleep.
The underlying psychological cause will often have influence the type of psychotic episode experienced. For example, someone with bipolar disorder is more likely to have delusions of grandeur, whereas somebody with depression or schizophrenia is more likely to develop paranoid delusions.

General medical conditions
The following medical conditions have been known to trigger psychotic episodes in some people:

•HIV/AIDS,
•malaria,
•syphilis,
•Alzheimer's disease,
•Parkinson's disease,
•hypoglycaemia (abnormally low blood sugar levels),
•lupus (a condition where your immune system attacks healthy tissue),
•Lyme disease (a bacterial infection),
•multiple sclerosis (a neurological disorder), and
•brain tumour.

Substances
Drug abuse can trigger a psychotic episode. A psychotic episode can also be triggered if you suddenly stop taking a drug after using it for a long time. This is known as drug withdrawal. Drugs that are known to trigger psychotic episodes include:

•alcohol,
•cocaine,
•amphetamine (speed),
•methamphetamine (crystal meth),
•MDMA (ecstasy),
•cannabis,
•LSD (acid),
•psilocybins (magic mushrooms), and
•ketamine.
Psychosis may also rarely occur as a side-effect of some types of medication, or as a result of an overdose of that medication.

When is it right to seek help

Research has shown that regular cannabis users are twice as likely to develop a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia, than people who do not use the drug.

Cannabis is known to increase the levels of dopamine in your brain, so long-term use may cause permanent changes in your brain's chemistry that could lead to psychosis.People who regularly use 'skunk' - the herbal type of cannabis which is specifically bred for its increased strength - are thought to be most at risk.

You should also avoid using other recreational drugs, such as cocaine or ecstasy, because these will also increase your risk of developing psychosis.

Experiencing prolonged bouts of stress can trigger an episode of depression, and both stress and depression are a major risk factor for psychosis.

Treatments

Treatment for psychosis involves using a combination of antipsychotic medicines and psychological therapies

Antipsychotics are usually recommend as the first-line treatment for psychosis. Antipsychotics work by blocking dopamine's Psychological treatment, such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), can help to reduce the intensity and anxiety caused by psychosis.

CBT is based on the assumption that most unwanted thinking patterns and emotional and behavioural reactions are learnt over a long period of time.The aim is to identify the unhelpful thinking that is causing your unwanted feelings and behaviours, and to learn to replace this thinking with more realistic and balanced thoughts.

		back to top
Disclaimer
All content within is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional.LSCT is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content of the LSCT website.Always consult your own GP if you're in any way concerned about your health.
Source information
some useful direct links click here