What’s Psychosis?

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Psychosis is a mental condition that involves a serious mental break with reality. Individuals with psychosis typically experience hallucinations, delusions, or both. Hallucinations are sensory perceptions of things that don’t exist, such as seeing things or hearing voices that don’t exist. Delusions are fixed, false beliefs, such as when the sufferer believes they are a god or that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is following their every move. Psychotic episodes can result from a number of other underlying mental illnesses, and treatment generally includes the use of antipsychotic medications.

A common cause of psychotic episodes is an underlying mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, or schizoaffective disorder. These illnesses can usually be treated effectively with a variety of antipsychotic medications. Unfortunately, many people suffering from psychotic symptoms choose not to take their medications regularly due to side effects, lack of funds to pay for the medications, and paranoia. If the person experiencing these symptoms becomes a threat to themselves or others, they may require involuntary hospitalization to recover on medication.

Another type of psychosis is drug-induced, a condition caused by acute intoxication with a chemical. The drugs most commonly responsible for psychotic symptoms include methamphetamines, cocaine, narcotics, marijuana, alcohol, and sedatives. Symptoms usually resolve as the drug clears the individual’s system. Sometimes, individuals who are addicted to a substance will experience psychotic symptoms if they suddenly stop taking that substance and experience withdrawal. Additionally, some people are very sensitive to medications and even a medication taken exactly as prescribed can lead to psychotic symptoms in these individuals.

Organic brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, frontotemporal dementia, and Lewy body dementia can also lead to psychosis. Lewy body dementia, in particular, is associated with detailed visual hallucinations. Treatment in these cases can be complicated, as antipsychotic drugs tend to be ineffective and even harmful in individuals with dementia. Some practitioners recommend not treating the condition until the patient is disturbed by hallucinations and delusions. If the individual is bothered by psychotic symptoms, cholinesterase inhibitors, such as Aricept®, can help reduce them.

Finally, there is a correlation between psychotic symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not known, however, whether the stressful event that caused the PTSD also caused the condition, or whether individuals with psychosis have more trouble coping with the trauma. This second hypothesis could mean that sufferers are more likely to develop PTSD symptoms than those without psychosis.

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