psychosis worries?

Question

how can you tell the difference between if you have an overactive imagination and psychosis? being psychotic or delusional? i have a feeling of detachment alot, especially when out. im waiting for a second opinion at the moment from a psychiatrist. im trying to concentrate alot on my mental health and on getting well. but it also worries me to. i spend alot of time worrying whats wrong with me? and can i get well? lead a normal life? im 29 now. i suffer very low moods everyday, and racing thoughts constantly. i have very high anxiety at all times, and insecurities about everything.i have alot of paranoid ideas at times, especially when i feel really low, isolated and lonely, persecutory type. i feel excluded from society and find it hard to go out anywhere because of fear an anxiety. i constantly have butterflies and a feeling of dread. in the past when i used to have aggressive outbursts in public, just before id become strangely detached and start to stare at people like in a trans

like i was unable to snap out of it. then i would hust explode and lose it at people, get aggressive, shout,, the feeling of driving a powefull car that had gone out of my control. unable to control myself. id get into very dangerous situations. barging into people, confrontations. ive been very lucky. thank god.. but in my quest for answers and trying to get well, i wondered whether what ive described is some kind of psychosis disoorder a loss of touch with reality?? i hope someone can help

Answer 1

Psychosis is chaotic thinking that is the result of a severely impaired reality test ( the patient cannot tell inner fantasy from outside reality). Some psychotic states are short-lived and transient (microepisodes). These last from a few hours to a few days and are sometimes reactions to stress. Psychotic microepisodes are common in certain personality disorders, most notably the Borderline and Schizotypal. Persistent psychoses are a fixture of the patient's mental life and manifest for months or years.

Delusion is, therefore, a belief, idea, or conviction firmly held despite abundant information to the contrary. The partial or complete loss of reality test is the first indication of a psychotic state or episode. Beliefs, ideas, or convictions shared by other people, members of the same collective, are not, strictly speaking, delusions, although they may be hallmarks of shared psychosis

The narrowest definition of psychosis, according to the DSM-IV-TR, is "restricted to delusions or prominent hallucinations, with the hallucinations occurring in the absence of insight into their pathological nature".

A delusion is "a false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everyone else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary".

A hallucination is a "sensory perception that has the compelling sense of reality of a true perception but that occurs without external stimulation of the relevant sensory organ".

Granted, the narcissist's hold on reality is tenuous (narcissists sometimes fail the reality test). Admittedly, narcissists often seem to believe in their own confabulations. They are unaware of the pathological nature and origin of their self-delusions and are, thus, technically delusional (though they rarely suffer from hallucinations, disorganised speech, or disorganised or catatonic behaviour). In the strictest sense of the word, narcissists appear to be psychotic.

But, actually, they are not. There is a qualitative difference between benign (though well-entrenched) self-deception or even malignant con-artistry – and "losing it".

Answer 2

Honestly, to me, it doesn't sound like psychosis. If someone is psychotic, they lose touch with reality. This includes hallucinations and delusions. Although the best person to talk to about this is a psychiatrist, which you're doing. In your question it sounds like you're having mood and anxiety problems, not psychosis. I hope that makes you feel better, and I'm sure seeking help from a therapist will be really beneficial. Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm sorry to read about your pain. I guess you can't do too much until you get that second opinion. It sounds to me as though you have GAD (generalized anxiety disorder) and possibly bipolar disorder (manic-depressive). Each of these can be treated with medication successfully, and therapy should get to the root of the problem.

Even if I'm wrong, most of the symptoms you describe can be controlled with meds. It's good that you're working on getting well, and studying up on your mental health. There are a lot of books at the public library that can be of help. You can also go to:

http://www.about.com

type in "mental health" in their search box (upper right hand corner). You can take tests, read on-site, join a forum, have newsletters emailed, etc. They explain a lot, but they do make it clear that they are no substitute for a health professional.

Feel better soon :)

Answer 4

I related to a lot of what you said until the end, then I began to think of a friend of mine who used to have outbursts. He heard voices though... In any case, I don't think they ever even diagnosed him with any serious type of psychosis. He is unmedicated and uses his imagination to create fantastic music. To me he's a musical genius, to others he's mentally disturbed. It's not like I'm disagreeing with them - he isn't either - he is no longer prone to random outbursts though and so doesn't seem to be dangerous.

My new philosophy on the matter of mental health is to do whatever feels right to you but be HONEST. I have always believed that people with "mental illnesses" tend to be more self-aware and you seem to be. The part of you that has aggressive outbursts is not what wrote that question. If you can't function without great difficulty, if you don't like feeling down and aren't able to redirect the anxiety and mania into something productive then maybe being medicated to level it out a little bit wouldn't be a bad idea. Fighting for control can be exhausting and one can only white-knuckle their way through life for so long. If you can do all of the things that you need to do and then some maybe you should see someone regularly anyway but embrace and express your creativity.

By the way, I think having pent-up genius could drive anybody mad so ask yourself if you're doing justice to whatever talents and passions you have artistically.

Answer 5

Hi, no, that doesn't sound like any type of psychosis that I've studied. People with psychotic disorders (like schizophrenia) typically suffer from visual or auditory hallucinations, and nothing you mentioned sounds like that. What you described sounds like social anxiety disorder. Your racing thoughts, feelings of dread, and butterflies are all symptoms (I've had social anxiety disorder for years). Strange as it sounds, that feeling of detachment can also signal severe anxiety: it's a symptom of "disassociating," which happens to some people when they're really scared or anxious. I have had that, and it's very scary--you can feel like you're going crazy--but you're not. It's your mind's way of trying to protect you distancing yourself from your (scary) environment. Feeling isolated and lonely--and paranoid at times--can be a result of past trauma, particularly childhood trauma--and a result of not being able to form good relationships. A second possible diagnosis (in my opinion) would be bipolar disorder, which causes huge mood swings. Another important note: severe depression can cause TEMPORARY psychosis, which disappears once you begin to recover. It's just a sign that your brain is overloaded.

It's good that you're seeing a psychiatrist: I also recommend that you begin seeing a good therapist that can help you work through your anxiety and possibly past trauma. That has been the winning formula for me (I have depression, social anxiety disorder, and PTSD--post traumatic stress disorder). Hang in there, because you are not crazy. I have been around crazy people--diagnosed as crazy--and they do not sound like you! Typically, people who are severely, permanently psychotic do not realize that they are "crazy." They may think everyone else is, but they do not recognize it within themselves. Here are some statements I have heard psychotic people make:
"We're all robots."
"I'm Jesus."
People with schizophrenia (the typical "crazy"/psychotic disorder) have these symptoms: rambling sentences that don't make any sense; they may jump from topic to topic in the same breath, with no connection between topics. They often hear voices without realizing that the voices are not real (that's an important characteristic: they can't separate reality from what's not), or they may see things without realizing that those things don't really exist. Anxiety and agression are not so much characteristics of psychosis; schizophrenia is a very unique disease; if you've been around people who have that diagnosis, you understand. They have something about them that's hard to put your finger on, but is very different. I have had most of the symptoms you described, but no one has diagnosed me as psychotic (and I have seen several psychiatrists). The only time I was psychotic was when I was severely depressed; the only symptom of my psychosis was that I thought I saw blood on the walls of my bedroom. But as soon as I began receiving treatment for my depression, those hallucinations stopped very quickly.

So hang in there. It's likely that your shrink will prescribe meds, and take them. Do tell him/her immediately about any weird side effects, because there are lots of good meds out there for depression/anxiety/bipolar, and there's no need to put up with nasty side effects. Be good about taking your meds, because a lot of patients aren't, and that will leave you in a tailspin. It's just like having diabetes or something like that, so there's no need to feel bad about it. Just stick with the program, and try to keep your chin up. Good for you for seeing a psychiatrist--far too many people won't even take that first step. Good luck!