Treatment is available for people with psychosis. Medicine, psychological therapy and community support can help reduce symptoms, allowing people to live a normal life. It's important to talk to a doctor if you think you may have symptoms of psychosis.
The good news is that psychosis is a treatable condition.
Treatment for psychosis is provided by health professionals and involves a number of different approaches, including medication. This toolkit is not meant to be a substitute for the treatments provided by your health professionals.
People aimed at improvement by decreasing their stress levels (e.g. getting enough exercise, swimming, yoga, meditation) instead of concentrating on one particular experience such as voice-hearing.
Evidence suggests that early treatment—and a shorter DUP—promotes better symptom improvement and overall functioning in everyday life. There is yet inadequate proof to say conclusively that psychosis causes permanent brain damage.
Psychosis may not be permanent. However, if someone isn't treated for psychosis, they could be at greater risk for developing schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder. Schizophrenia is rare, but people who have it are at increased risk for premature death and suicide.
In fact, many medical experts today believe there is potential for all individuals to recover from psychosis, to some extent. Experiencing psychosis may feel like a nightmare, but being told your life is over after having your first episode is just as scary.
Psychosis, like other disorders, can be successfully treated. Most people make a good recovery and have their symptoms disappear. An increased understanding of psychosis has led to new interventions to help young people recover.
Psychosis could be triggered by a number of things, such as: Physical illness or injury. You may see or hear things if you have a high fever, head injury, or lead or mercury poisoning. If you have Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease you may also experience hallucinations or delusions.
Psychosis can be very serious, regardless of what is causing the symptoms. The best outcomes result from immediate treatment, and when not treated psychosis can lead to illness, injuries, legal and financial difficulties, and even death.
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.
Schizophrenia does not typically get better as you get older. The symptoms of schizophrenia may become worse over time, or they may remain the same for some people. Schizophrenia is a chronic illness that can be managed with medication and therapy, but it does not typically go away as you get older.
Your experience of psychosis will usually develop gradually over a period of 2 weeks or less. You are likely to fully recover within a few months, weeks or days.
Many people with substance-induced psychoses will later transition to a diagnosis of schizophrenia, but estimates vary widely between early psychosis services and population-based registers.
Psychosis is a symptom, not an illness, and it is more common than you may think. In the U.S., approximately 100,000 young people experience psychosis each year. As many as 3 in 100 people will have an episode at some point in their lives.
Psychosis is a symptom and therefore temporary; however, if not treated early, it may develop into more intense experiences, including hallucinations and delusions. Psychosis can also be a sign of a mental health condition, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
There are multiple causes of psychosis, which include substance abuse or withdrawal, exposure to severe stress, inherited and acquired medical conditions or diseases, and mood disorders. However, the most common cause of psychosis is schizophrenia.
Symptoms of psychosis include delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that others do not see or hear). Other symptoms include incoherent or nonsense speech and behavior that is inappropriate for the situation.
Complications of psychosis
People with a history of psychosis are more likely than others to have drug or alcohol misuse problems, or both. Some people use these substances as a way of managing psychotic symptoms. But substance abuse can make psychotic symptoms worse or cause other problems.
Antipsychotics are a type of psychiatric medication which are available on prescription to treat psychosis. They are licensed to treat certain types of mental health problem whose symptoms include psychotic experiences. This includes: schizophrenia.
Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality.
Psychosis is often described as a "loss of reality" or a "break from reality" because you experience or believe things that aren't real. It can change the way you think, act, feel, or sense things. Psychosis can be very scary and confusing, and it can significantly disrupt your life.
The symptoms of psychosis can be very disabling, and get worse over time if left untreated. Living with symptoms of psychosis can be frightening, confusing and debilitating. However, psychosis is treatable with professional help.