Hey everybody.
Today I'm going to talk with you about Psychosis.
What is it?
What happens if we get diagnosed with it?
And what does it look like?
So stay tuned.
So like I said,
Today I want to talk with you about Psychosis.
I've heard from many of you,
That there have been different times when you were struggling with your mental illness,
That you had Psychosis of some sort.
Some Psychotic features, your doctor said,
And what does that really mean?
Now, I'm going to talk with you about Psychosis,
As it relates to the Schizophrenia spectrum and other Psychotic disorders.
There are five domains, they call them,
Where Psychosis falls under.
However, many of you have experienced,
I know because you have told me about it,
That you've had Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic features.
You've had Bipolar Disorder one or two with Psychotic features.
And know that that is very common.
Often times when we are struggling with one mental illness,
And it can get really bad,
Or, a lot of people with intense mania with Bipolar One Disorder,
Can experience Psychotic features along side that.
And so it's really important that you express to your doctor,
Your therapist,
Your treatment team,
Whoever is seeing you.
About what you're experiencing.
Because they need to know all of the information,
To make sure that you're getting the help that you need.
But today I'm going to talk with you,
About pretty much the five different ways that we can experience Psychosis.
Now these domains that I'm going to talk about,
Can be in relation to your Major Depressive Disorder,
Your Bipolar Disorder.
But where it falls in the DSM,
Is under Schizophrenia Spectrum and other Psychotic Disorders.
Okay, you with me.
So there are five.
So we've got to get moving.
Because there is a lot of them.
So the first one,
Is Delusions.
Now I have talked about these before in my Schizophrenia video,
If you want to watch that to gain more understanding,
You can click here,
To watch more about that.
Now Delusions are firmly held beliefs.
And there is nothing you can say to that person,
Or do to make them think that their belief is false.
No matter if there is conflicting evidence,
They still firmly believe that these things are happening.
So that's a Delusion.
Now the second,
Is a Hallucination.
So Delusions are firmly held beliefs.
Hallucinations are things that we see or hear that no one else sees and hears.
Auditory Hallucinations, though, are the most common.
These people are really experiencing this.
This is something they're really perceiving as happening.
Even though we don't see it or hear it or feel it,
They do.
Okay.
Now the third,
Is Disorganized Thinking.
So, if we are struggling with Psychosis,
Often times our thinking is not in order.
Okay.
It will be noticed through someone's speech.
It can sound like you're hopping from a topic to another.
We used to call it, in the hospital ward,
Word Salad.
It's like,
I don't even know.
Random words strung together.
Now the fourth,
Is Grossly Disorganised.
Or Abnormal Motor Behavior.
And I have written down,
It could Catatonia as well.
I know these are a lot of large words,
And it can be really confusing, but,
What this really means is,
So their behaviour is grossly disorganized.
It's very disorganized.
They can struggle to get to the grocery store to buy the bread that they need.
Because that would be organized behavior.
It would be a goal oriented thing.
And it can be very hard for them.
A lot of,
One thing, then I will get off my soap box in a second,
But the one thing that I feel like people always overlook,
Is that those who struggle with Psychosis,
Being Schizophrenia, or any kind of those spectrum disorders,
Is depression.
A lot of them are very depressed.
It can be a really scary world that they live in,
To feel like people are following them,
That people are talking to them through their t.v. that's turned off.
That doing what we would think of as simple activities,
To go get something so that we could, you know, care for ourselves,
It's so difficult.
And it's so unattainable.
It can be really hard.
And the fifth, and the last one,
And this is something that I saw a lot in the hospitals,
Because it also isn't as bothersome to people in the outside,
So it can go undiagnosed or untreated.
Are Negative Symptoms.
So those who struggle with Psychosis have what we call 'Positive Symptoms'.
Like the Delusions, Hallucinations, the Disorganized Thinking and Speech.
Those are things that we see.
That's why we call them positive.
They're adding on to things.
We're adding on a Delusion or Hallucination,
You follow.
But Negative Symptoms,
Are things we're taking away.
People can not move at all.
They cannot express themselves emotionally.
And I have the most common ones,
Because there are a lot.
But the number one is Diminished Emotional Expression,
What we call blunted affect.
That's like,
[Said in blunt tone] 'Oh my gosh, I am so sorry that that happened to you.'
There is no expression.
No emotional attachment.
Avolition.
Which is when they don't show any desire to do anything of purpose or for themselves.
It's kind of like, maybe, Anhedonia to the max.
Like we talk about in Depression,
When you just don't really enjoy doing anything.
It's like you don't want to do anything.
And so, I have written here,
So I don't forget,
That many disorders can have Psychotic features as a subtype.
Just like I was talking about at the beginning.
So if you experience any of these.
Or you know someone who does.
Please please please reach out for help and get properly assessed.
Let your treatment team know what you're experiencing,
Because it goes so far beyond just what I have talked about today.
Psychosis is more common than we know.
It's more common than people talk about.
A lot of disorders have some subtypes of it.
And so we have to make sure that we're getting the treatment that we need,
And we're able to express what we're going through.
This can maybe help you put some words to what you've been feeling.
Or what a loved one has been expressing to you.
And also it's so important that you share your experience.
Have you experienced one of the things that I talked about?
Was it a little different than the way I described it?
That is so helpful to someone who maybe thinks they might have it, but isn't quite sure.
So please share your experiences and share this video.
As we work together towards a Healthy Mind and a Healthy Body.
Things that aren't there.
I could be feeling things that aren't there.
Think of your senses.
Not many people like smell things that aren't there.
Or even feel things that aren't there.
The most common are seeing and hearing.
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