The mental illness that can cause psychosis is severe depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Psychosis has many causes and appears to result from a complex combination of genetic risks and differences in brain development as well as exposure to trauma or stressors.
Psychosis refers to psychiatric disturbance in which the patient loses contact with reality.
This can include having delusions, hallucinations and disorganized thinking or speech.
Delusions are false beliefs.
An episode of psychosis is treatable, and it is possible to recover.
It is widely accepted that the earlier people get help the better the outcome.
25% of people who develop psychosis will never have another episode, another 50% may have more than one episode but will be able to live normal lives.
Things that can trigger psychosis include.
Physical illness or injury. You may see or hear things if you have a high fever, head injury, or lead or mercury poisoning.
Abuse or trauma.
Recreational drugs.
Alcohol and smoking.
Prescribed medication.
The main symptoms of psychosis are hallucinations where someone sees, hears, feels, tastes, or smells things that aren't real, often this can mean they hear voices as well as delusions where someone believes things that are untrue, often this can lead them to believe that someone is trying to harm them.
Brain changes can happen in people whose psychosis goes untreated.
The more relapses and episodes a person has, the more we see that it can permanently change their brain function and structure.
The last stage of psychosis is recovery.
During this stage, the symptoms of psychosis will lessen and the person will be able to return to a normal routine.
This phase usually occurs after the person receives treatment for their mental health disorder or stops using the substance that induced psychosis.