psychoses


psychosis

 [si-ko´sis] (pl. psycho´ses) a state in which a person's mental capacity to recognize reality, communicate, and relate to others is impaired, thus interfering with the capacity to deal with life demands. adj. adj psychot´ic. Mental disorders in which psychotic symptoms may be present include mood disorders, schizophrenia, brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorders, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, shared psychotic disorder, and pervasive developmental disorders.alcoholic p's psychoses associated with alcohol use and involving organic brain damage, a category that includes alcohol withdrawal delirium, Korsakoff's syndrome, alcoholic hallucinosis, and alcoholic paranoia (concurrent paranoia and alcoholism).brief reactive psychosis an episode of brief psychotic disorder that is a reaction to a recognizable and distressing life event.depressive psychosis older term for a psychosis characterized by severe depression, which is now more commonly described as a form of major depressive disorder.Korsakoff's psychosis Korsakoff's syndrome.postpartum psychosis a psychotic episode occurring during the postpartum period.senile psychosis depressive or paranoid delusions or hallucinations or similar mental disorders due to degeneration of the brain in old age, as in senile dementia.toxic psychosis that due to ingestion of toxic agents or to the presence of toxins within the body.

psychosis

(si-ko'sis) plural.psychoses [ psycho- + -osis] A mental disorder in which there is severe loss of contact with reality, evidenced by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech patterns, and bizarre or catatonic behavior. Psychotic disorders are common features of schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and some affective disorders. They can also result from substance abuse (e.g., the use of hallucinogens), substance withdrawal (e.g., delirium tremens), or side effects of some prescription drugs.

Symptoms

In psychotic states patients may express unusual ideas (e.g., that they can read the minds of others, send radio messages directly to God or inanimate objects, travel to distant galaxies). These ideas are called delusions. Psychosis also is marked by patient reports of hearing voices (auditory hallucinations) or seeing objects or persons not visible to others (visual hallucinations). Auditory hallucinations are hallmarks of schizophrenic and manic states, while visual hallucinations are characteristic of drug intoxication or withdrawal. Disturbances in thought content and form, perception, affect, sense of self, volition, interpersonal relationships, and psychomotor behavior occur. Thorough physical and psychiatric examinations rule out organic causes of the patient symptoms and establish the diagnosis.

Treatment

Treatment goals focus on meeting the patient’s physical and psychosocial needs, and usually combine drug therapies with behavioral therapies, long-term psychotherapy, psychosocial rehabilitation, and/or vocational counseling, requiring use of community resources. Patients with psychosis are treated effectively with neuroleptic drugs (which appear to work by blocking postsynaptic dopamine receptors), such as haloperidol, risperidone, or chlorpromazine. Side effects of some of these medications include dystonic reactions and tardive dyskinesia. The newer agents produce fewer of these extrapyramidal symptoms. Treatment drugs also have sedative, anticholinergic, and orthostatic hypotension effects, and about 1% of patients taking these agents experience neuroleptic malignant syndrome (life-threatening fever, muscle rigidity, and altered level of consciousness).

Patient care

The psychotic patient should be treated gently and with respect. A safe environment should be maintained, with suicide precautions instituted if needed. Trusting relationships are gradually developed, while avoiding promotion of dependence. Engaging the patient in reality-oriented activities that involve human contact and employing reality-orientation is helpful. Attempts to correct delusional thinking should be avoided because delusions are resistant to logical argument, and discussion about them may be misinterpreted. Because psychotic patients behave violently on occasion, careful practitioners eschew confrontation with them, and obtain immediate help to protect the safety of all involved.

CAUTION!

1. Unfamiliar religious experiences and rituals may have all the hallmarks of psychosis when viewed by individuals from different cultures. What constitutes an especially meaningful experience in one society may be recognized as psychosis by another. 2. When assisting a psychotic patient, most clinicians sit close to a door, so that if they feel the need to leave the room quickly, they can do so unimpeded.

Clinicians need to be honest and dependable, and should never make promises that cannot be kept. The family needs to be involved in therapies, taught to recognize adverse drug effects and signs of relapse, as well as ways to manage patient symptoms. Patients are taught to manage their drug regimens, and advised to report any adverse reactions they experience, but not to discontinue a drug without specific direction from the primary care provider. If blood testing is required, the patient is taught when and where this monitoring will take place. If slow-release formulations are used, the patient needs to know when to return for the next dose.

alcoholic psychosis

Loss of contact with reality that results from acute or chronic alcohol use. Examples are pathological intoxication, delirium tremens, Korsakoff's psychosis, and acute hallucinosis. See: acute alcoholism; acute alcoholic hallucinosis; delirium tremens; intoxication; Korsakoff's syndrome

depressive psychosis

Psychosis characterized by extreme depression, melancholia, and feelings of unworthiness.

drug psychosis

Psychosis caused by intoxication.

exhaustion psychosis

An acute state of confusion and delirium that occurs in relation to extreme fatigue, chronic illness, prolonged sleeplessness, or tension.

functional psychosis

A psychosis in which there is no apparent pathology of the central nervous system.

gestational psychosis

Psychosis that occurs during pregnancy.

involutional psychosis

Psychosis occurring during the period of bodily and intellectual decline.

manic depressive psychosis

Bipolar disorder.

organic psychosis

Psychosis induced by structural brain changes. Emotional instability, irritability, angry outbursts, and inattention are typical symptoms. At any time in the course of the disease, memory, comprehension, ideation, and orientation may become defective. Possible causes include alcohol, narcotics, trauma, syphilis, drugs, poisons, chronic infections, encephalitis, and brain tumors, among many others.

polyneuritic psychosis

Koraskoff's syndrome.

postinfectious psychosis

A psychosis following an infectious disease such as meningitis, pneumonia, or typhoid fever.

postpartum psychosis

A psychosis that develops during the 6 months following childbirth, the highest incidence being in the third to sixth day after delivery through the first month postpartum. The symptoms and signs include hallucinations, delusions, preoccupation with death, self-mutilation, infanticide, distorted reality, and interpersonal dependency. Therapies used to treat this condition include estrogens, electroconvulsive therapies, lithium, and neuroleptic drugs. Synonym: puerperal psychosis See: depression, postpartum

puerperal psychosis

Postpartum psychosis.

senile psychosis

Psychosis in which onset occurs in an aged individual. This term is rarely used in the English-language health care literature but remains in use in non–English-speaking countries.

situational psychosis

Psychosis due to excessive stress in an unbearable environmental situation.

steroid-induced psychosis

, steroid p.A psychosis that follows the administration of corticosteroids (e.g., prednisone or methylprednisolone) and cannot be clearly ascribed to another cause. The psychosis may remit after steroids are withheld or may respond to neuroleptic drugs or electroconvulsive therapy.

toxic psychosis

Psychosis brought on by intoxication.

traumatic psychosis

Psychosis or schizophrenia-like illnesses occurring in people who have suffered traumatic brain injury.

Patient discussion about psychoses

Q. What is paranoia? Is it different from other psychosis disorders? A friend of mine was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I read about it on the internet and I am not sure about the idea of paranoia. Is it a kind of psychosis or it a different symptom by its on?Can someone give an example of paranoid thinking VS normal thinking?A. Methinks all these brain disorders have everything to do with a lack of copper. With all our modern technology and artificial fertilizers and processing of foods, the food has become so depleted of minerals that our bodies and brains have become so depleted that we cannot even function properly. Start taking kelp, calcium magnesium, cod liver oil, flax seed oil, and raw apple cider vinegar. This will bring healing and normal function to the brain and body systems. The emotions will calm down and be more manageable. If you are taking a vitamin with more manganese than copper it will add to the dysfunction. Don't waste your money. There you are! Some solutions rather than more rhetoric about the problem.

Q. Hi, everybody. I was wondering how long you've been diagnosed with bipolar and if you had psychotic symptoms? I've been diagnosed for coming on a year this December. how did you handle the news, how do you feel about medication and how do you feel about finding a partner, or how has your partner handled the news? I was totally shocked, stigmatized and ashamed. I thought I did something wrong and God could just heal me. I was in denial. And I flushed my medication down the toilet but I went right back to the hospital. Never want to go there again. I've come to accept it as my thorn in my side and to see the positive aspects of it: more down to earth, better able to relate, more trusting in God, and better able to minister. What do you feel is positive about your illness?A. Methinks all these brain disorders have everything to do with a lack of copper. With all our modern technology and artificial fertilizers and processing of foods, the food has become so depleted of minerals that our bodies and brains have become so depleted that we cannot even function properly. Start taking kelp, calcium magnesium, cod liver oil, flax seed oil, and raw apple cider vinegar. This will bring healing and normal function to the brain and body systems. The emotions will calm down and be more manageable. If you are taking a vitamin with more manganese than copper it will add to the dysfunction. Don't waste your money. There you are! Some solutions rather than more rhetoric about the problem.

Q. Am i going to get schizophrenia and what are the signs towards it? My mother is 50 years old and i knew she was bi polar and tonight i found out she has schizophrenia too from a nurse at the hospital she was sent to for going crazy out of no where tonight. I am very different from her and i am 17 years old. My dad side of the family has no disorders. How likely am i to develop schizophrenia? What are the first symptoms? Can i see signs now? and any other info.A. Sweetheart you would not recognize a sign if it run over you. as the sickness encroaches upon your mind it also removes rational thought. you will say to your self I am not crazy there is nothing wrong with me. all the crazy Sob's around me are nuts I an not. And Honey you will believe your self. self diagnosis is a very dangerous path you are wanting to take.
Just be aware and talk to a certified psychiatrist – he’ll tell you any thing you want to know.

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