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eLearning Series: Mental Illness
Explain Mental Illnesses To Me
Signs
and Symptoms of Psychosis
With those persons suffering from psychotic
disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder life can
be faced with many challenges. Treating acute outbursts and
continuing treatment so relapses will be less or not happen
can be a full time job for those affected. Each individual
is unique; no one will have the exact same symptoms as another
but one or more common warning signs is likely to be evident.
There are several common warning signs of psychosis
that the person and those closest should be aware of. Some of the signs
and symptoms are just like other mental illnesses, such as
depression. Other signs may be more aggressive or apparent
to those around the person. One needs to be aware of the difference
between a normal phase or bad day and the warning signs of
psychosis. Sometimes they look the same. The psychotic symptoms
won’t go away with a few days or week they will just get worse
as time goes on.
- Sleeping too much too little, or any other major sleep change
- Withdrawing from family, friends, and other enjoyed activities
- Difficulty understanding what the person is saying
- Lack of speaking, not having much to say about anything
- Expression of emotions diminishing, acting like a robot instead
of a person
- Hoarding objects or rummaging through other belongings
- Wearing strange clothing or inappropriate combinations of
clothes
- Suspiciousness or hostility
- Diminished motivation and lack of any enthusiasm
- Decreased ability to concentrate or focus on anything
- Having strange behavior that makes no sense
- Think that people are after them or trying kill them
- Hearing voices or seeing things that others can't see or hear.
Common
signs and symptoms of psychosis typically are having
delusions and/or hallucinations, and very strange atypical
behavior. These persons may see, smell or taste things that
appear to be real but which are not being experienced at that
time by anyone else. People who have hallucinations often try
to find an explanation for what is happening they don’t people
to think they are crazy. They may invent and attribute them
to beliefs that others may see as strange, which are called
delusions. Many people believe that the voices are coming from
the television or someone has their home bugged, speaking directly
to them. They tend to believe someone is plotting against them
and are trying to turn everyone away from them. The voices
may be critical and abusive. This kind of distorted thought
pattern could cause very severe anxiety or paranoia.
Psychosis may also involve 'mania', when a person is in a
very excited energetic state. There will be increased energy
and physical activity, racing thoughts and speech, which may
be confused and irrational. Or alternatively the opposite may
happen and the individual may become extremely withdrawn, inactive,
perhaps neither moving nor speaking for long periods. Most
medical professionals use a cluster of symptoms that last for
long periods of time to diagnose most mental illnesses, like
schizophrenia or manic depression. Sometimes an individual
may have symptoms of both these conditions together. This will
involve many episodes of psychosis in which the person affected
loses touch with reality. They can experience very high or
low moods that affect the way they behave and react. Some people
will only experience one 'psychotic episode during their life
and other people will have recurring episodes at different
times during their life. Every person with a mental illness
is different and there is no way of predicting how many psychotic
episodes and individual will have.
It is very important to seek professional help right away
if someone is in one of the above-mentioned states. Hospitalization
and medication might be needed if the individual is out of
control. They might try to harm themselves or others, call
911 for assistance. Do not try to force the individual to go
with you, it could make the symptoms worse and people could
be hurt. Recognizing the symptoms early enough can help avoid
a crisis, and get the individual help before symptoms worsen.
During a crisis remove all dangerous objects out of immediate
reach and call a mental health professional right away. The
important thing to bear in mind is the safety of the affected
individual and any other people that are present during the
episode. # # # # #
by SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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