Psychosis

Psychosis is characterized as disruptions to a person’s thoughts and perceptions that make it difficult to recognize what is real and what isn’t. These disruptions are often experienced as seeing, hearing, and believing things that aren’t real, or having strange, persistent thoughts, behaviors, and emotions.

Psychosis includes a range of symptoms but typically involves one of these experiences:

Hallucinations, such as:

• Hearing voices
• Strange sensations or unexplainable feelings
• Seeing glimpses of objects or people that are not there or distortions

Delusions, such as:

• Believing external forces are controlling thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
• Believing that trivial remarks, events, or objects have personal meaning or significance
• Thinking you have special powers, are on a special mission, or even that you are God

While everyone’s experience is different, most people say psychosis is frightening and confusing.

Psychosis is a symptom, not an illness. Causes of psychosis may include:

• A traumatic event such as a death, war, or sexual assault
• Substance use
• Physical illness or injury
• Mental health conditions, such as Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, or Depression

Source: National Alliance on Mental Illness

Treatment for psychosis at the Center of Excellence in Co-Occurring Medicine includes a thorough evaluation and routine follow-up care to ensure that the underlying cause of psychosis is properly diagnosed, and that the diagnosed condition is effectively treated.

Learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of psychosis from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.