What is psychosis? Causes, symptoms and treatment
The word psychosis probably sounds to a large majority of the population, or at least to those with knowledge of psychology and psychiatry. It is a term that, although it was born around two centuries ago, is still used today when referring to certain mental disorders. Many people know that it is related to schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders.
So that, What is psychosis? In this article we are going to make a brief comment about it.
- Related article: "The 18 types of mental illnesses"
Psychoses: definition and associated symptoms
It is understood by psychosis to set of mental disorders that generate in those who suffer an alteration in the perception of reality, losing contact with it and causing severe difficulties in the functioning of perception, thought and behavior.
The concept emerged in the psychoanalytic current, appearing in 1841 and beginning to become popular from 1845. In fact, in this last year it would become popular and the division of mental disorders would be extended into neuroses (of neuropsychological origin, in which the subject has difficulty adapting to reality but without denying this) and psychosis (psychiatric, in which there is a break with reality and a possible generation of a new one).
The most frequent and predominant symptoms that someone with some type of psychosis usually presents are the hallucinations or perceptions of stimuli not existing in reality , which can affect any sensory modality, and delusions (whether or not these are an attempt to explain such hallucinations).
It is also common that there is an alteration in the ability to coordinate and organize thoughts, words and actions, losing the ability to make logical associations. Weird and disorganized behaviors are carried out , and in many cases the thread of the discourse is lost. It is usual that there are difficulties to concentrate, as well as the presence of alterations in the state of mind. Agitation and panic, or on the contrary total immobility, is not a strange phenomenon either.
Another aspect to keep in mind is that in most psychoses and psychotic experiences the subject is not aware of being affected by an alteration: he is obviously aware of what he perceives, but usually does not see it initially as something self-generated if not as something that is really happening. And they are not mere imaginations: the subject really perceives something (he hears a voice, insects note crossing his body ...), simply said perceptions do not correspond with real stimuli.
These alterations are usually linked to the condition of a mental disorder, although they can also arise from the condition of a brain injury , an organic pathology (a tumor or infection for example) or the consumption of substances (whether drugs or medicines). But sometimes we can also get to present some kind of psychotic symptom without having to suffer a particular problem or be intoxicated: there are some hallucinations that arise in periods of disturbance of consciousness, or it is possible that starvation or lack of sleep can generate them.
The causes of psychoses
Psychoses are complex alterations, which throughout history have tried to be explained in multiple ways and by different theoretical currents. Today the causes of psychoses remain largely unknown , the explanations raised according to the psychotic disorder itself can vary greatly.
At present, the most widespread hypothesis, of cognitive-behavioral origin, is the diathesis-stress , in which it is considered that psychotic disorders are the product of the interaction of stressful life factors and biological vulnerability generated by genetic inheritance and / or problems derived from brain functioning (such as a bad neuronal migration or the presence of physiological alterations).
However, we must bear in mind that different frameworks and currents of thought have offered different explanations. From the Freudian psychoanalysis, for example, psychosis has been presented as a negation and substitution of the reality generated by the absence of the primary repression capacity, specifying the subject of said deformation of reality in order to survive.
Another current that has tried to offer an explanation is the humanist, who proposes for example with the model map of self-esteem that the core of the disorder is in anguish and vulnerability to anti-feats (defeats, failures and situations that make that the subject feels ashamed and self-despises), which end up causing the subject to deceive himself to protect himself and little by little he moves away from reality. However, both this model and the one based on psychoanalysis do not enjoy acceptance by the scientific community.
Some psychotic disorders
Psychosis is a generic term that refers to the general functioning of this type of disorders. But actually there are a lot of different psychopathologies that fall into this category . Also, some disorders that were originally identified as psychotic have subsequently been separated from this concept. An example is bipolar disorder, formerly called manic-depressive psychosis. Below are some of the main psychotic disorders.
1. Schizophrenia
The most known and prototypical of psychotic disorders, schizophrenia is a disorder in which hallucinations, delusions and language alterations usually appear . Disorganized behavior, catatonia, or negative symptoms such as impoverishment of thought and judgment can also appear. It usually occurs in the form of outbreaks and generates a great amount of difficulties for the sufferer. The symptoms last at least six months and may end up causing cognitive deterioration.
- Related article: "What is schizophrenia? Symptoms and treatments"
2. Chronic delusional disorder
Another of the major mental disorders of the psychotic type, chronic delusional disorder is characterized by the existence of alterations in the content of thought , existing strange beliefs and that do not conform to the reality that remain fixed despite the evidence against. In general, with the exception of that which is linked to the content of his delirium, the subject acts normally and does not present other difficulties. Beliefs can be more or less systematized, and the subject often considers that the evidence supports their beliefs and ignores those elements that contradict them.
3. Schizophreniform disorder
It is a psychotic disorder that shares most symptoms with schizophrenia, except for the fact that the duration of your symptoms is more than one month but less than six and not cause deterioration.
- Related article: "Schizophreniform disorder: symptoms, causes and treatment"
4. Schizoaffective disorder
This disorder is characterized by the presence of psychotic symptoms along with alterations in mood as depressive or manic episodes , there being psychotic symptoms for at least two weeks in the absence of manic or depressive episodes (otherwise we could be facing a depressive or bipolar disorder with psychotic characteristics).
5. Short reactive psychosis
Brief onset of psychotic symptoms as a reaction to a stressful and traumatic phenomenon.
6. Psychotic disorder due to medical illness
Some medical diseases can end up generating psychotic symptoms due to the involvement of the nerves or the brain . Dementias, tumors, autoimmune problems and metabolic alterations can be the origin of an organic psychosis.
7. Psychotic disorder derived from the consumption of substances
Drugs can also generate psychotic experiences, both at the time of consumption and in intoxication or as a result of the withdrawal syndrome in dependent subjects.
8. Brief psychotic disorder
It is a psychotic disorder similar to schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder , with the difference that in this case it lasts less than one month.
9. Occasional symptom in other disorders
It must be taken into account that in addition to the psychiatric disorders, many other psychopathologies can deal with some psychotic elements . This is what happens with depression or bipolar disorder, in which hallucinations and psychotic phenomena can occasionally appear.
