What is Psychosis? Definition and Meaning of Psychosis?

Definition, Meaning of Psychosis – Affecting three out of a hundred people, psychosis is a symptom of severe mental disorders in which a patient’s capacity to think and feel is greatly damaged up to the extent that they seem to be detached from reality. Psychotic individuals experience delusions and hallucinations alongside the impairment of their social links. The effects of psychosis can also extend to being able to inflict pain to oneself or to others. Majority of people diagnosed with such disorder belong to the bracket of young adults, but it can potentially be acquired by anyone.

Common Symptoms of Psychosis

  • Depression and anxiety
  • Peculiar ideas and difficulty with focusing
  • Delusions (development of peculiar thoughts not shared by other people)
  • Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, and feeling non-existent things)
  • Tendency to be suicidal
  • Disorganized speech

Causes of Psychosis

  • Previously acquired illnesses
  1. Parkinson’s disease
  2. Alzheimer’s disease
  3. Epilepsy
  4. Stroke
  5. Brain tumor
  6. HIVs
  • Use of illegal drugs
  • Environmental factors
  • Traumatic experiences
  • Genetics

Examples of Psychotic Disorders

  • Bipolar Disorder – This is a mental illness characterized by the extreme shift from mania (peak of energy characterized by euphoria and restlessness) to depression (troughs including pessimism, inferiority, and misery). Bipolar disorder is greatly different when compared with the usual ups and downs in a person’s life. The change of a patient’s mood is often abrupt and unpredictable. Signs of psychosis are evident especially when a patient reaches the point of being suicidal.
  • Schizophrenia – Among the best examples of psychosis, schizophrenia is a mental disorder that induces varied forms of hallucination, delusion, and social dysfunction. It is further classified into subtypes namely schizoaffective disorder (combination of schizophrenia and personality disorders), catatonic schizophrenia (extreme shifts in behavior), childhood schizophrenia (diagnosed during the early stages of life), disorganized schizophrenia (lack of coherent and logical thinking), and paranoid schizophrenia (severe pessimism and anxiety).
  • Psychotic Depression–Significantly different from ordinary forms of depression, this subtype is characterized with symptoms of psychosis including hallucination and delusion which are often consistently haunted by miserable thoughts. Patients are also afraid to express such peculiar thoughts, making it hard to diagnose psychotic depression in the first place. Further signs of psychosis include suicidal tendencies and disorganized speech.

Treatment for Psychosis

  • Medication drugs – Antipsychotics are drugs developed to be countermeasures against the symptoms of psychosis. It aids with establishing control over delusions and hallucinations a patient would often experience. With moderated prescription, such drug is proven to give fast effects given a short period of intake.
  • Tranquilization – In the scenario that a psychotic experiences a peak of his emotion that is difficult to control, a method called rapid tranquilization in the form of an injected liquid medicine designed to calm a person down immediately. This fast action prevents the psychotic from harming himself and other people near him as well.
  • Therapy – in attempt to reform the mental behavior of a patient, counselors or therapists would hold several sessions of one on one talks with a patient suffering from psychosis. The opportunity to share the agony and peculiarities he is experiencing makes a psychotic feel more at ease and more rational. This method is proven to be effective for patients willing to spark long term changes