Brief Introduction to Psychosis
This article is a brief introduction to our 1st info session 'Brain & Psychosis'.
What is Psychosis?
Psychosis is a scary occurrence, where the sufferer’s brain functions is disrupted so as to make it difficult to distinguish reality from fantasy. In life we rely on our ability to separate our imagination from reality, if not, we’d probably curl up in a ball in fear of our own mental creations. When our mind breaks from reality, our imagination/fantasy permeates into the real world.
A common misconception is that a psychotic hallucination appears like ‘imaginary being’. This is poor characterization of a psychotic hallucination, as our imagine performs on a private 'mental stage' (which we can distinguish from reality).
A psychotic hallucination occupies real presence to the sufferer, making what they see, hear, smell, etc. as real, as you are to them. Psychosis does not have to involve hallucinations, it can include confused thinking or delusions. The cause of psychosis is not fully understood by science; however stress does have a role in triggering episodes; so does certain drugs like LSD, Marijuana or Speed.
What does Psychosis look like?
Acute psychosis can manifest as heightened activity, increased talking and rate of speech, irritability, overconfidence & euphoria. During these psychotic episodes, it is not uncommon for the sufferers mind to be preoccupied with sexual and/or religious themes. Religion as a common theme of psychotic episodes makes many sufferers feel as though they have had a spiritual awakening, opposed to a psychotic episode.
Treatment for Psychosis
Effective treatment for people who suffer or have suffered from psychosis is a combination of counselling/therapy & medication (appropriately called anti-psychotics). Many mental illnesses can cause psychosis (such as Bipolar, Schizophrenia, etc.) and psychosis can often be the first signal to get help for their underlying mental illness. Psychosis is an interesting group of illnesses that still requires greater research.
This is a brief introduction to what we will be teaching at our first Public Health Information Session on 2nd June 2015 @ 7:00PM. There are still some tickets available for this event, so if you want to get an even deeper understanding of the brain & psychosis, purchase your tickets online now.