Psychosis
Psychosis is a set of symptoms that involve a person’s mind “playing tricks on him or her.” The person experiencing psychosis may have difficulty telling the difference between his or her own thoughts and perceptions and those that come from the outside world.
Although real to the person experiencing psychosis, psychotic experiences are not experienced as real to others. In fact, as a medical term, psychosis refers to a loss of contact with reality, or difficulty telling what is real from what is not real.
Psychosis is more common than many people think. Symptoms may come and go or be relatively constant.
It is often associated with mental health disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. However, psychosis can also occur for many other reasons, including substance abuse, brain injury, seizure disorders, or conditions of extreme sleep deprivation or isolation.
Most importantly, psychosis is treatable. It may be preventable.
