Alester Brown

Three Ways to Identify Someone is Having a Psychotic Episode

A psychotic episode is a mental health crisis that occurs when a person's thoughts become disconnected from reality. They perceive reality differently from others around them, leading to potentially dangerous behaviour.

Psychosis therapy can tackle symptoms and help people cope with these episodes. But before that can happen, you have to learn to identify these events when they occur.

Psychosis affects people in many ways, and what one person experiences can be drastically different from what someone else goes through. However, most psychotic episodes have three primary symptoms.

Hallucinations

During a psychotic episode, many individuals hallucinate. When that happens, the person might see, hear, taste, feel, and smell things that are not there. They only exist in their mind. Hallucinations can be one of the more dangerous symptoms.

In some cases, the visions and experiences are mild. But in some situations, they can be downright terrifying. The hallucinations can cause a person to act erratically. They believe whatever they sense is occurring in real life, triggering a fight or flight response.

Delusions

Delusions and hallucinations can sometimes merge and overlap. However, delusions refer to firmly held beliefs with no basis in reality. For example, a psychotic episode can cause a person to believe someone is trying to harm them. No matter how much you try to reassure them of safety at that moment, they will think they're in danger.

Another example is delusions of grandeur. In those situations, psychosis makes people believe they have power or authority when they do not. Both examples are dangerous and can lead to harm, abusive behaviour, and more.

Disrupted Thoughts

Finally, psychotic episodes usually come with confused and disturbed thoughts. Instead of free-flowing thoughts, an individual can show clear signs that their mental state is not in a good place. They could ramble incoherently, lose their train of thinking out of nowhere, and even switch from one conversation to another mid-sentence.

These symptoms are all problematic and warrant professional help. Don't hesitate to turn to psychosis therapy if anyone in your life begins to suffer from psychotic episodes.

Author Resource:-

Alester Brown writes about mental and physical health. She advises people on Paediatrician & online Psychiatrist consultation. You can find her thoughts at licensed therapists blog.