Description
Psychosis (also called a 'psychotic experience' or 'psychotic episode') is when you perceive or interpret reality in a very different way from people around you.
It is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real, you "lose touch" with reality.
Psychosis affects people in different ways. You might experience it once, have short episodes throughout your life, or live with it most of the time.
The most common symptoms include hallucinations and delusions, among other features for example incoherent speech and behavior that is inappropriate for a given situation.
There may also be sleep problems, social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and difficulties carrying out daily activities.
Psychosis can have serious adverse outcomes. (I attest, I might share some stories in the future, if I feel safe and comfortable enough).
As with many psychiatric phenomena, psychosis has several different causes.
These include mental illness, such as schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, sensory deprivation and major depression (psychotic depression).
Other causes include: trauma, sleep deprivation, some medical conditions, certain medications, and drugs, hallucinogens, and stimulants. One type, known as postpartum psychosis, can occur after giving birth.
A hallucination is a sensory perception in the absence of external stimuli. It may occur in any of the senses and take on almost any form.
hallutinations may consist of simple sensations (such as lights, colors, sounds, tastes, or smells) or more detailed experiences (such as seeing and interacting with animals and people, hearing voices, and having complex tactile sensations).
They are generally characterized as being vivid and uncontrollable.
Auditory hallucinations, particularly experiences of hearing voices, are the most common and often prominent feature of psychosis.
A visceral hallucination, also called a cenesthetic hallucination, is characterized by visceral sensations in the absence of stimuli. Cenesthetic hallucinations may include sensations of burning, or re-arrangement of internal organs.
A delusion is a fixed, false idiosyncratic belief, which does not change even when presented with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary.
Delusions are context- and culture-dependent certain delusions are classified as "bizarre" if they are clearly implausible, or are incompatible with the surrounding cultural context.
A delusion may involve diverse thematic content.
The most common type is a persecutory delusion, in which a person believes that an entity seeks to harm them.
Others include delusions of reference (the belief that some element of one's experience represents a deliberate and specific act by/or message from some other entity)
delusions of grandeur (the belief that one possesses special power or influence beyond one's actual limits)
thought broadcasting (the belief that one's thoughts are audible)
and thought insertion (the belief that one's thoughts are not one's own).
A delusion may also involve misidentification of objects, persons, or environs that the afflicted should reasonably be able to recognize; examples include Cotard's syndrome (the belief that oneself is partly or wholly dead) and clinical lycanthropy (the belief that oneself is or has transformed into an animal).
Characteristics of disorganized though and speech include rapidly switching topics, called derailment or loose association; switching to topics that are unrelated, called tangential thinking; incomprehensible speech, called word salad or incoherence. Disorganized motor behavior includes repetitive, odd, or sometimes purposeless movement.
Negative symptoms include reduced emotional expression (flat affect), decreased motivation (avolition), and reduced spontaneous speech (poverty of speech, alogia). Individuals with this condition lack interest and spontaneity, and have the inability to feel pleasure (anhedonia).
Wow, what a lot of text!
Does anyone even read it?
Thank you if you did.
Thank you for helping me save the world.
What I'm doing will all be clear one day... Or maybe not? I sure hope so. I am trying my best despite all.
For now, one step at the time.