5 Signs Someone's Experiencing Brief Psychosis
A brief psychotic disorder is a severe mental illness. When stress is too much for an individual, it may form into a brief psychosis. This affects your physical, social, and psychological functioning.
A study about early psychosis reports that 7 out of 1000 individuals have experienced psychosis at some point in their lives. As psychosis is collective, it's vital to detect symptoms of brief or early psychosis to prevent forming full-blown psychosis, which may lead to schizophrenia.
Here are five signs someone's experiencing brief psychosis:
1. THERE'S NO DIVIDE BETWEEN REAL AND IMAGINARY
If you observe that someone is having trouble deciphering which is real or not, that is a sign of an onset of early psychosis. Here are the early psychosis symptoms:
- Delusions or unrealistic beliefs towards self or others
- Hallucinations or seeing, hearing, and feeling things that aren't there
- Disorganized speech or speaking incoherently
- Inappropriate, disorganized, or catatonic behavior
2. THE SYMPTOMS TAKE UP A DAY OR A MONTH
Early psychosis's sudden onset means that there's a change from a healthy state to a psychotic state within two weeks.
3. THE BRIEF PSYCHOTIC EPISODE ISN'T EXPLAINED BY ANOTHER MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DISORDER
Psychosis can be a symptom of different mental disorders.
For example, if a person has bipolar disorder, manic episodes can turn to psychosis when left unmanaged.
Other mental disorders like major depressive disorder and schizophrenia can have psychotic features.
Medically, if someone ingests drugs or substances that can affect the brain, it is a different type of psychosis called substance-induced psychosis.
Related Article: Comprehending Manic Episodes
4. STRESS IS PRESENT
Not only is stress an effect that can show signs of brief or early psychosis, but it is also a cause.
A brief psychotic disorder may arise if stress exists. While feeling stress or pressure is a natural situation, consistently feeling stressed may lead to a breakdown.
Psychosis is an intense breakdown for people who cannot cope with stress around them.
5. THE PAST DAYS WERE SLEEPLESS OR RESTLESS
Early psychosis symptoms can be detected through the patterns of behavior that changed. One of the changes may be the person's sleeping pattern.
Resting is very important.
Your ability to rest or sleep can indicate if there is stress happening. In children and adults, restlessness or being unable to sleep is a manifestation of stress or anxiety.
Brief or early psychosis can be seen through changes in thoughts, behavior, and beliefs about others or self. One productive thing sleep does is that it energizes you and reboots your system.
If you don't experience sleep for a couple of days and have been stressed for a while, you will most likely suffer a breakdown as severe as brief psychosis.
Being aware of minor or significant changes in your life or the life of others can prevent severe mental health conditions from happening.
If you notice some signs happening to yourself or a loved one, it's vital to seek immediate help. The first step to recovery is acknowledging your need to be given support or help. Mental health professionals are available to give you the proper support needed.
