What is Psychosis?
"Psychosis" is a broad term that covers many different symptoms and experiences.
Common symptoms include:
Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, or tasting things that other people don't)
Feeling overwhelmed by sensory information (lights seem too bright, noises too loud)
Difficulty filtering stimulation from the environment
Delusions (false personal beliefs based on incorrect assumptions about reality which are inconsistent with cultural and previous beliefs, and which are firmly sustained in spite of evidence or proof to the contrary)
Confused thinking or speech
Difficulty doing ordinary things (often includes problems with memory, attention, putting thoughts together)
Who experiences psychosis?
Anyone can develop psychosis.
Many people see or hear things that others don't, or have ideas that are unusual.
Psychosis is only a problem when it is causing you or someone close to you significant distress or harm.
It affects 3 in 100 people, and usually occurs for the first time between the ages of 15 and 30.
It can be caused by a variety of medical illnesses, sleep deprivation, severe stress or trauma, drug reactions, genetic predisposition, and other factors.
Common early signs of psychosis
Drop in grades or job performance
Suspiciousness, paranoid thoughts, or uneasiness with others
Social withdrawal
New difficulties with focus and concentration
Thoughts and feelings that are new or out of character
Decline in personal hygiene
Early on, symptoms may be intermittent and the person often recognizes that something is wrong. As psychosis progresses, people lose their ability to distinguish symptoms from reality making it becomes more difficult to have a conversation.
A person whose psychosis has progressed may not believe that other people don't hear the same voices and may not be able to integrate new information from others into their thinking.
Psychosis may also result from, or accompany, a mood disorder such as major depression or bipolar disorder (in which there are dramatic swings in energy level, sleep patterns, mood and behavior).