There are many theories about what causes people to experience psychosis. You may not find it helpful to think of your experiences as symptoms of a mental illness. You may have a different belief. Hearing voices or other sounds is the most common hallucination.
Hearing voices is different for everyone. For example, voices may be:. These are beliefs that are not based on reality. Even though they feel real to you. Other people are likely to disagree with your beliefs. For example, you may believe:. You may not always find these experiences distressing, although people often do. You may be able to stay in work and function well even if you have these experiences.
Cognitive experiences are ones that relate to mental action. Such as learning, remembering and functioning. Hallucinations can also happen if you are very tired. Or if someone close to you has recently died. And here we are describing mental health conditions from a medical view.
If you want more information about psychosis linked to neurological conditions or brain injuries look at the Useful Contacts section at the end of this section. Such as psychosis. They include the following. Negative symptoms Negative symptoms are things which are taken away from your normal experience.
They include:. Bipolar disorder can be a life-long mental health problem that mainly affects your mood. Your mood can change massively. You can experience episodes of mania and depression.
If you experience manic symptoms you may also experience psychosis. Your delusions will usually be grandiose. This means that you may believe that you are a very important person. For example, you may believe you have special powers or are on a special mission.
Not everyone with bipolar disorder will experience psychosis. And you may feel well between episodes of mania and depression. When your mood changes, you might see changes in your energy levels or how you act. Schizoaffective disorder is a mental illness that can affect your thoughts, mood and behaviour.
You may have symptoms of bipolar disorder and psychosis. In rare situations side effects of medication can cause psychosis. Also taking too much medication can cause psychosis.
You may experience psychosis if you have severe depression. Severe depression means that your symptoms are more severe than someone who has mild or moderate depression. If you have psychotic experiences after giving birth, this is known as postpartum psychosis. This is a rare condition. This is most likely to happen suddenly within 2 weeks of giving birth. This is a serious mental health condition and should be treated as an emergency. You are likely to make a full recovery as long as you get the right treatment.
You may be admitted to a mother and baby unit for support. You may have a delusional disorder if you have a single firmly held belief that is not true. Or a set of related beliefs that are not true.
These are likely to be constant and lifelong beliefs. You are very unlikely to hear voices with this disorder. You will experience psychosis for a short period of time. The psychosis may or may not be linked to extreme stress. The psychosis will usually develop gradually over a period of 2 weeks or less. You are likely to fully recover within a few months, weeks or even days. Nobody knows exactly what causes psychosis. There are different reasons why you may experience psychosis.
It is thought that many people who experience psychosis because of life experiences. Which are largely out of their control. There is evidence that stressful life experiences can cause psychosis. In particular abuse or other traumatic experiences.
A review found that over half of patients that were in hospital for mental health problems had either been physically or sexually abused as children. Research suggests that mental illness can run in families. Research suggests that changes to your brain chemistry can cause psychosis. You can speak to your GP about your concerns. They will be able to talk to you about treatment options and coping strategies. But you should listen to them.
Make sure that you understand the pros and cons of your treatment options before you make a decision. Your GP should refer you to a secondary mental health team if this is the first time that you have experienced psychosis and asked for help. You should be assessed quickly. A secondary mental health team will usually be called the:. You or your carer should be able to make a self-referral to a secondary mental health team if this is the first time that you have experienced psychosis.
To find your local secondary mental health team you can try the following. A care coordinator will have regular contact with you. And they will manage your care plan to make sure that you get the help that you need. This can include both treatment and social care needs. Support for physical health You are at a higher risk of physical health issues if you have a mental illness.
Your risks can include being overweight, having coronary heart disease or diabetes. Because of the increased risk you should have regular physical health checks. Such as a full health check including weight, blood pressure and other blood tests when you start antipsychotic medication.
Your local authority is responsible for your social care and support. The social services team are part of the local authority. If you need help and support to look after yourself then you can have an assessment by social services.
For example, you may need support so that you can:. Charities In some areas, charities will support people who experience psychosis. This may be through support groups where you can talk to other people who have experience of psychosis.
Or there may be a different service available for you, such as employment or isolation support. You can look on our website to see if we have any support groups or services in your area.
If you would like us to look for you please contact our advice line on and let us know what sort of support you are looking for. There are things that you can do to help manage your mental health. You can find more information about:. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE recommend that you should be offered antipsychotic medication and talking therapy if you experience psychosis. If you decide not to take medication you should still be offered talking therapy.
NICE produce guidelines for how health professionals should treat certain conditions. You can download these from their website at www. Antipsychotic medication can help with psychosis.
Your doctor should give you information about antipsychotics including side effects. You and your doctor should choose the medication together. Some people find that they do not start to recover until they get the right medication. It is important to take the medication every day to help your symptoms. There are lots of different antipsychotics to try because people respond to different medications. Some may not improve your symptoms and cause side effects.
You should discuss your medication with your doctor if your medication is not working. Or you are finding the side effects hard to deal with. There might be another medication that will suit you better. Doctors should check that your medication is working.
They should also give you a physical health check 12 weeks after the start of medication and then at least once a year. Some antipsychotic medication can make you put on a lot of weight.
So, your weight should be monitored each week for the first 6 weeks. Cognitive behavioural therapy CBT CBT can help you understand your experiences and any upsetting and worrying thoughts and beliefs. You can discuss new ways of thinking about them and dealing with them. What is CBT? CBT is a talking treatment. It is there to try and help you to:. Family intervention Family intervention is where you and your family work with mental health professionals to help you to manage your relationships.
This should be offered to people who you live with or who you are in close contact with. The support that you and your family are given will depend on what problems there are and what preferences you all have.
This could be group family sessions or individual sessions. Your family should get support for 3 months to 1 year and should have at least 10 planned sessions.
Art therapy Art therapy may be more useful if you have depressive symptoms, such as withdrawing from people or losing interest in things that you used to enjoy. You will have arts therapy with a therapist. It will usually be in a group. It is there to mix different communication techniques with creativity.
Art therapy aims to help you to:. Therapy for trauma If you have experienced trauma, your psychosis may be part of your way of dealing with this.
This is something which can be treated with counselling or psychotherapy. The therapist will help you to understand the root causes of your hallucinations or delusions. They will explore ways to over-come and control difficult voices and beliefs. The NHS do not usually offer counselling or psychotherapy to people who are experiencing psychosis. But they should listen to you if you ask for it. Especially if other therapies like CBT, family intervention and arts therapies, are not available locally.
You should first speak to your doctor about your treatment. Explain why you are not happy with it. You could ask what other treatments you could try.
Tell your doctor if there is a type of treatment that you would like to try. Doctors should listen to your preference. If you are not given this treatment, ask your doctor to explain why it is not suitable for you. A second opinion means that you would like a different doctor to give their opinion about what treatment you should have. You can also ask for a second opinion if you disagree with your diagnosis. But your doctor should listen to your reason for wanting a second opinion. An advocate is independent from the mental health service.
They are free to use. They can be useful if you find it difficult to get your views heard. There are different types of advocates available. Community advocates can support you to get a health professional to listen to your concerns. And help you to get the treatment that you would like. You can search online to search for a local advocacy service. We will look for you. Your concerns investigated in more detail. This is where your concerns are investigated in further detail.
You can ask an advocate to help you make a complaint. Advocates that do this are called Independent Health Complaints Advocates. People deal with their experience in different ways. You might need to try different things before finding something that works.
The acute phase is when the symptoms of psychosis begin to emerge. It is also known as the "critical period. During this phase, the person experiencing psychosis can become extremely distressed by what is happening to them or behave in a manner that is so out of character that family members can become extremely concerned and may start to seek help.
Before this stage the individual may have been experiencing a more gradual decline. With effective treatment most people will recover from their first episode of psychosis and may never have another episode.
It is important to remember that psychosis is a treatable condition and if help is sought early, an individual may never suffer another episode. Antipsychotics are believed to work by blocking the effects of the overactivity of a brain chemical called dopamine. This overactivity is thought to be at least part of the cause of psychotic symptoms.
Symptoms do not always go away completely with antipsychotic treatment, but generally become more manageable. Antipsychotic drugs generally fall into two categories:. These medications inhibit dopamine action and affect serotonin levels. They are usually the first choice to treat schizophrenia. Types of these medications include:. These antipsychotics are older and inhibit dopamine activity, but do not affect serotonin. Antipsychotic medication can cause a range of side-effects. Speak with your healthcare provider to determine the risks and benefits of these medications.
Different medications work differently for each person. If one medication is not effective or not well-tolerated, discuss your symptoms and side effects with your healthcare provider. Never stop taking an antipsychotic medication without consulting your healthcare provider.
Abruptly stopping can be dangerous. Your healthcare provider can inform you how to stop treatment safely and can help you find another alternative if needed. Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. National Institute of Mental Health. RAISE questions and answers. Cleveland Clinic. Schizophreniform disorder.
Updated December 9, Centre For Addiction and Mental Health. Psychotic disorders. Updated April 15, Updated June Schizophrenia: An information guide. Updated Antipsychotic medication. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellHealth. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.
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