How does psychosis happen

While such signs should not be cause for alarm, they may indicate the need to get an assessment from a doctor. Encouraging people to seek help for early psychosis is important. Families are often the first to see early signs of psychosis and the first to address the issue of seeking treatment.

However, a person's willingness to accept help is often complicated by delusions, fears, stigma and feeling unsettled. In this case, families can find the situation extremely difficult, but there are engagement strategies to help encourage a person to seek help.

It's important to get help quickly since early treatment provides the best hope of recovery by slowing, stopping and possibly reversing the effects of psychosis. Early warning signs include the following:. Determining exactly when the first episode of psychosis begins can be hard, but these signs and symptoms strongly indicate an episode of psychosis:. A mental health professional performing a psychological evaluation can determine if a mental health condition is involved and discuss next steps.

If the psychosis is a symptom of a mental health condition, early action helps to keep lives on track. Psychosis includes a range of symptoms but typically involves one of these two major experiences:. We are still learning about how and why psychosis develops, but several factors are likely involved.

We do know that teenagers and young adults are at increased risk of experiencing an episode of psychosis because of hormonal changes in their brain during puberty. A diagnosis identifies an illness; symptoms are components of an illness. Health care providers draw on information from medical and family history and a physical examination to diagnose someone.

If causes such as a brain tumor, infection or epilepsy are ruled out, a mental illness might be the reason. If the cause is related to a mental health condition, early diagnosis and treatment provide the best hope of recovery. 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.

Do not stop suddenly taking any prescribed medicines as this could trigger a relapse of your symptoms. If a person's psychotic episodes are severe, they may need to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for treatment.

People with a history of psychosis are more likely than others to have drug or alcohol misuse problems, or both. But substance abuse can make psychotic symptoms worse or cause other problems. People with psychosis have a higher than average risk of self-harm and suicide. You can also call the Samaritans , free of charge, on for support. The mental health charity Mind also has some useful information and advice.

If you think a friend or relative is self-harming, look out for signs of unexplained cuts, bruises or cigarette burns, usually on the wrists, arms, thighs and chest. People who self-harm may keep themselves covered up at all times, even in hot weather. Read more about warning signs of suicide. Psychological causes The following conditions have been known to trigger psychotic episodes in some people: schizophrenia — a mental health condition that causes hallucinations and delusions bipolar disorder — a person with bipolar disorder can have episodes of low mood depression and highs or elated mood mania severe stress or anxiety severe depression — feelings of persistent sadness, including postnatal depression , which some women experience after having a baby lack of sleep The underlying psychological cause often influences the type of psychotic episode someone experiences.

General medical conditions The following medical conditions have been known to trigger psychotic episodes in some people: HIV and AIDS malaria syphilis Alzheimer's disease Parkinson's disease hypoglycaemia an abnormally low level of glucose in the blood lupus multiple sclerosis brain tumour Substances Alcohol misuse and drug misuse can trigger a psychotic episode.

Drugs known to trigger psychotic episodes include: cocaine amphetamine speed methamphetamine crystal meth mephedrone MCAT or miaow MDMA ecstasy cannabis LSD acid psilocybins magic mushrooms ketamine In rare situations, psychosis can also occur as a side effect of some types of medicine or as a result of an overdose of that medicine.

See a GP if you're experiencing psychotic side effects caused by medicine. The brain There's been a great deal of research into how psychosis affects the brain and how changes in the brain can trigger symptoms of psychosis. Dopamine Researchers believe dopamine plays an important role in psychosis.