What is psychosis?

The human brain is still not fully known in its potentialities and even less in the diseases it presents. Among the serious diseases that attack the brain is psychosis, a psychic disorder that takes the person out of the real world and transports him/her to a false reality.

Thus, a psychotic person can see and hear things that exist only in their imagination, which is altered as a result of brain malfunction. Like most brain diseases, psychosis can be quite problematic for the sufferer. Depending on the severity, hospitalization may be necessary for treatment.

The psychosis and all its consequences, are also considered as symptoms of a brain maladjustment, which may be temporary, caused by another disease or stressful and traumatic factors. With the reading of this article you will know important information about psychosis. Follow.

Causes of psychosis

Medical science is still working to accurately classify the causes of psychosis, as with other brain disorders. However, genetic factors, brain disorders of different types, and stressful conditions are among the most common causes. Learn more in the following blocks.

Genetic factors

Genetic factors are, in a simple way, the set of personal characteristics that is transmitted between generations, not necessarily dealing only with diseases, but also with other physical and psychological aspects. In medicine they are responsible for the passage of many known diseases.

However, in some cases such as psychosis, for example, the genetic factors come in as one more element that will contribute to the appearance of the psychotic disorder. Thus, it is not because some ancestor suffered from psychotic outbreak that you will also suffer. However, there is already a genetic predisposition that facilitates the installation of the disease, when added to other factors.

Brain alterations

Brain alterations are both the cause and consequence of several diseases, including psychosis. The brain is a highly complex organ whose functioning is far from being fully understood. In any case, alterations can happen both in the shape of the brain and in the electrical impulses emitted by brain activity.

The interconnection between the components of the brain causes an effect to happen in various parts of the brain, thus causing the psychosis that never appears from a single brain alteration, but from a set of factors not only internal, but also external.

Hormones

Hormones are substances that endocrine glands produce to regulate the functioning of various organs of the body. Insulin and adrenaline are well known hormones. Each hormone is produced for a specific place of action and the excess or lack of them cause various anomalies in the body.

In this sense, it is possible to suffer a psychotic break as a consequence of hormonal changes that cause PMS, depression and other related diseases. In fact, psychotic breaks are constantly observed as consequences of other pathologies of hormonal origin.

Symptoms of psychosis

The initial identification of psychosis can be made just by observing the patient's behavior. The patient shows signs of confused thinking and sudden changes in attitudes. In addition, delusions and hallucinations are also among the symptoms. Read in the sequence more details about each of the symptoms.

Confusion of thought

Confused thinking or mental confusion is a symptom that is associated with various mental illnesses, not only psychosis. Among its main effects are slowness and shuffling of data when processing information. In addition, the ability to make decisions is also impaired.

Thus, mental confusion can be disabling, as it can come along with memory failures and disorientation in time and space. One of the most common effects of mental confusion is the act of saying sentences or expressions that are disconnected and make no sense.

Delusions

Delirium is an effect of a mental disorder in which the patient has a firm conviction of a fact that does not exist, except in his imagination. There are at least two types which are: the extraordinary delirium which besides being unreal is also impossible, and the ordinary delirium which does not exist, but is within the possible of happening.

Delirium does not include disconnected visions or phrases, however, the content or idea is that besides being fixed in the mind is out of reality. Deliriums are common effects in psychotic breakouts and can last about a month.

Hallucinations

A hallucination is a situation where the five physical senses that connect a person to the outside world are altered. Thus, the patient can see, hear, taste, touch and even smell smells that are created by the altered perception that the hallucination causes.

Although hallucination can be an effect of psychic problems such as psychosis, it also manifests as an effect of hallucinogenic substances such as THC contained in marijuana, for example. In addition, drunkenness also appears as a cause of hallucinations.

Altered feelings

The confusion in the manifestations of feelings and emotions appears as a symptom of psychosis, but also of other psychic diseases. In fact, the similarity between the symptoms is a remarkable characteristic in pathological situations of psychological nature, which makes the exact diagnosis difficult in a first moment.

Thus, alterations in emotions and sensations provoke a picture of unbalance and oscillations that can vary in intensity, being proportional to the degree of complexity of the problem. In this sense, the patient can present emotions such as deep sadness, disinterest, and pessimism, for example.

Change in behaviour

Behavioral changes, which can be sudden or progressive, are changes in routine that include friendships, dress, mood, and many personal tastes such as eating habits, music, movies, and etc. This can happen in a change from childhood to adolescence as well as upon reaching maturity.

In addition, the use of drugs and traumas of psychic nature are also causative agents of behavioral changes. In this sense, it is necessary to be alert, because a behavioral change is not always associated with a psychological disorder such as psychosis, for example, although the possibility needs to be analyzed.

Types of psychosis

Being an effect that manifests itself in the brain involving the human psyche, psychosis has several variations in its multiple aspects. Thus, the patient may present bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, psychotic depression and others, of which you will know more details in the following blocks.

Bipolar Disorder

The bipolar disorder may manifest both as a psychosis and as other psychic disturbances, being also known as manic-depressive illness. The clinical picture involves the manic episode, when the crisis is at its highest potential, and the depressive episode at the lowest level.

As a result of bipolar disorder the individual may oscillate between hysterical joy and deep sadness. In addition, the patient may have variations in his will to accomplish something, insomnia and low energy level.

Delusional disorder

The delusional disorder is a disease in which the patient has a mental confusion that makes him unable to differentiate between what is real and what is a figment of his imagination. Although he does not hallucinate, the patient creates unreal situations in his mind, considering them as real facts.

The symptoms of delusional disorder are very similar to those of schizophrenia and both problems can appear in a psychotic break. Delusional disorder varies in intensity and the most acute cases may require hospitalization. Milder cases can be treated at home, but always with medical supervision.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a disorder of the mind characterized as severe and chronic, whose causes have not yet been fully clarified. Most cases occur in the adolescent phase and at the beginning of the maturity period. In addition, heredity appears in the diagnosis of many cases.

The disorder distorts the thoughts altering the individual's behavior significantly. Thus, schizophrenia causes detachment, changes in language and emotions, among other problems. The disorder also causes both visual and auditory hallucinations.

Substance-induced psychotic disorder

Many factors can contribute to start the process of installing psychosis in a person's brain. Some can act more slowly while others are more accelerated and potent. Among these factors there is one that deserves to be highlighted, because sometimes it depends on the action of the individual.

Thus, a psychotic disorder can be caused by the consumption of substances contained in certain medications, but also by the use of hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD, for example. In addition, withdrawal from certain substances can trigger the effects, even if temporarily.

Brief psychotic disorder

Among the variations of the harmful effects of psychosis, which may vary depending on their causes, is the brief psychotic disorder, or brief reactive psychosis. Although the effects may be similar to those of the other types, in this case they are short-lived.

Brief psychotic disorders are usually the product of a major emotional trauma, which can also induce a state of temporary shock. They are sudden episodes that, when treated immediately, tend to soften and disappear with time.

Thus, family tragedies with death of loved ones, severe cases of violence such as armed robbery, rape, and other traumatic events can induce a person to present the symptoms of psychosis.

Organic psychosis

A psychotic condition is classified as organic psychosis when it does not originate from a psychiatric condition. Thus, the disorder is caused by a physical problem that causes some kind of brain damage, and as a consequence it can generate one or more psychotic effects.

Some examples are blood clots caused by head injuries, meningitis which is an inflammation of brain tissue, severe vision or hearing problems whose organs are in close proximity to the brain, among others.

Psychotic depression

Psychotic depression, as the name suggests, is a situation in which the symptoms of depression (sadness, pessimism, lack of energy, restlessness, change in appetite and sleep, and others) are added to the symptoms of depression, such as delusions and hallucinations.

Both depression and psychosis are considered serious clinical states, which individually cause great damage. Thus, psychotic depression is an even worse condition, which needs special care in treatment.

Paranoid personality disorder

A psychotic condition of a severe nature can cause disastrous effects, both because of the clinical situation and because of the use of medications that can have major side effects. Thus, paranoid personality disorder, although not common, can arise as an aggravation of a psychosis.

The main symptoms of this disorder are acute distrust of everyone around the sufferer, as well as an unfounded suspicion against everything and everyone. The sufferer sees conspiratorial attitudes everywhere, which can make socialization difficult.

Treatment of psychosis

The treatment for psychotic disorder will depend on a number of factors that will make up the complete clinical picture. One of the elements that can guide the treatment is the number as well as the types of symptoms that the patient presents. The types of treatments are the subjects of the next blocks.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy means to treat the mind, to reestablish the patient's mental health that has been shaken by disorders of psychic nature. Its application can be with or without the use of drugs, which are only used in more severe cases. Psychotherapeutic treatment can attenuate or eliminate psychotic effects.

Psychotherapy consists of a series of dialogue sessions between the doctor and his patient, and aims to stimulate the patient's understanding of his situation, as well as what he can do to improve it.

Medication

The treatment of psychosis tends to be difficult, as it may involve prejudices and fears of association with madness. In addition, patients usually present several symptoms at the same time in the most severe cases or when the diagnosis was delayed.

In this sense, when the situation is more serious, the intervention of a psychiatrist may be necessary, who will prescribe drugs, which are called antipsychotics. All the action of the drugs aims at the effects, since psychosis hardly has a single known cause.

Rapid reassurance

The psychotic break may degenerate into a dangerous situation in some more complex cases. Thus, the psychotic may present a level of agitation in which it is possible to cause injury, either to oneself or to others.

In these cases, the medical team needs to act quickly in order to tranquilize the patient, and to do so they use injectable drugs with a calming effect to stabilize the psychotic state. For this reason, the method is called rapid tranquilization.

Is psychosis curable?

Psychosis is a psychic situation whose causes have not yet been established, which theoretically makes it impossible to cure. However, it is possible to stabilize the condition with the use of medication and therapy sessions, which will combat the effects of the outbreak, but without a guarantee that there has been a cure, since the cause has not been eliminated.

Moreover, in cases such as schizophrenia, for example, medication can be prescribed for as long as the patient has to live, because there is a risk that the symptoms will return. These medications are strong chemical compounds that require other drugs to alleviate their side effects.

Moreover, the brain still holds many secrets about how it works, although science is constantly advancing. The best way to avoid even bigger problems is to diagnose it quickly, to fight psychosis at its early stage.