Psychosis is the most severe of all mental illnesses and involves sufferers undergoing such extreme distress that they may lose touch with reality. It is the most commonly recognized mental illness and leads to sufferers losing the ability to function in society.
Psychosis has the following symptoms:
- Hallucinations are sensory experiences without the presence of a stimulus. They involve the sufferer seeing, hearing, smelling or feeling something that isn’t there.
- Delusions are fixed or firm beliefs in something that is not true. The sufferer experiencing delusions may believe that someone is trying to kill him, that he has divine powers or possess other beliefs that are far from reality.
- Intense paranoia making the sufferer feel as if everyone is out to harm them.
- Social withdrawal due to the inability to communicate with people
- Erratic behavior which can involve the sufferer doing odd things such as wearing multiple layers of clothing in hot weather, smiling or laughing uncontrollably, putting garbage in their pockets etc.
- Symptoms of depression described earlier.
Psychosis occurs in a mental illness known as schizophrenia. If you feel that you or someone you know is experiencing these symptoms then learn more about managing mental illness, caring for sufferers or seek help.