Can psychosis generally be defined as “a serious mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by a loss of contact with reality and resulting in complications in normal social functioning?(KMLE Medical Dictionary? Definition of psychosis).
When we pay attention to this definition, several diseases come to mind that can cause psychosis or psychotic symptoms, such as schizophrenia, schizotypal personality disorder, drug-induced psychotic disorders, and psychotic disorders caused by other health problems.
- “Schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders are defined by abnormalities in one or more of the following five areas: delusions.
- Hallucinations.
- Disorganized thinking (speech).
- Very disorganized or abnormal motor behavior (including catatonia) and negative symptoms?(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
- DSM-5.
- 2014.
- P.
- 87) Next.
- We’ll examine the characteristics of these psychosis symptoms.
Illusions are fixed beliefs that are not likely to change, even in the light of irrefutable evidence against them, their content can include several themes (e. g. persecutor, referent, somatic, religious, greatness). By simplifying and assuming the mistake that presupposes, we could say that they are something like made-up stories, people affected by the disease without knowing that they are being invented, so the person expresses what he really thinks and acts accordingly, even if it does not correspond to reality. .
Delusions are considered extravagant when they are clearly unlikely, incomprehensible and do not come from everyday experiences An example of extravagant delirium is the belief that an external force extracted an individual’s internal organs and replaced them with those of another person without leaving wounds or scars. An example of a non-extravagant illusion is the belief that one is being monitored by the police despite the absence of convincing evidence.
Hallucinations are perceptions that occur without the presence of an external stimulus, are acute and clear, with all the strength and impact of normal perceptions, and are not subject to voluntary control, can occur according to any sensory modality, but auditory hallucinations are the most common in schizophrenia and associated disorders.
“Do auditory hallucinations often manifest themselves in the form of voices, known or unknown, that are perceived as different from thought itself?(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5, 2014, p. 87). There are also tactile, olfactory and visual hallucinations.
Schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic disorders are defined by abnormalities in one or more of the following five areas: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking (speech), very disorganized or abnormal motor behavior (including catatonia), and negative symptoms.
Disorganized thinking (formal thinking disorder) is usually inferred from the individual’s speech or speech. It’s very difficult to have a conversation with some psychosis patients because they can jump from one topic to another. Your answers may not relate to our questions or the discourse may be so disorganized that it is almost incomprehensible.
Very disorganized or abnormal motor behavior can manifest itself in different ways, from child “nonsense” to unpredictable tremors. Problems can be identified to achieve any type of objective-oriented behavior, with the consequent difficulties in carrying out daily activities.
Catatonic behavior manifests itself in a reduction in the ability to react to the environment, ranging from resistance to follow instructions, the adoption of a rigid, inadequate or particular posture and the total absence of verbal or motor responses.
Other features include repeated stereotypical movements, gaze, grimaces, silence and ecolalia (repetition of syllables or words).
Two of the particularly important negative symptoms of schizophrenia are reduced emotional expression and aboulia. Reduced emotional expression consists of a decrease in the expression of emotions through facial expression, eye contact, speech intonation, and the movements of the hands, head and face that usually place emotional emphasis on speech.
Abulia is a decrease in activities, carried out on its own initiative and motivated by an objective. The individual may be seated for long periods of time and show little interest in participating in professional or social activities.
This is a difficult question to answer: there is not a single cause, but a lot of factors or causes that can trigger psychosis. We will try to answer that question by addressing the different “Illnesses” that can cause psychotic symptoms.
There is an important contribution of genetic factors in determining the risk of developing schizophrenia, although the majority of people diagnosed with schizophrenia do not have a family history of psychosis. The predisposition to suffer the disease is caused by a series of risk alleles, common and rare. Each allele contributes only a small fraction of the total population.
Complications from pregnancy and childbirth with hypoxia (lack of oxygen), in addition to cases of people becomes parents at an advanced age, are factors associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia. Other adverse situations during pregnancy, such as stress, infections, malnutrition, maternal diabetes, and other health problems can also have an impact.
The birth season is also related to the incidence of schizophrenia: for example, in late winter or early spring in some areas. In addition, the incidence of schizophrenia and related disorders is higher among children growing up in urban areas and in certain ethnic minorities groups.
It is defined as an uninterrupted period of illness during which there is an older episode of emotional state (manic or major depression) and delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, very disorganized behavior or negative symptoms.
They may have an increased risk of schizoafective disorder in first-degree family individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or schizoafective disorder.
There is no single cause, but a lot of factors and triggers that can trigger psychosis.
Risk factors for this disorder include pre-existing disorders and personality characteristics, such as schizotypal personality disorder, border-limiting personality disorder, or certain characteristics, such as mistrust. A brief psychotic disorder is usually triggered by a stressful event, but that doesn’t mean all stressful events trigger a brief psychotic disorder.
In general, it can be said that psychosis will not develop in an individual who does not have the “parts” necessary to do so. The biggest risk factor is biological and the factor that acts as a propellant of the disease is usually a situation of acute stress in the life of the person or the use of certain substances (drugs).
Not all psychotic episodes are caused by drug use, but their use increases the chances of developing the disease. Some drugs, such as cannabis, can trigger a psychotic episode and people who have experienced psychotic episodes are particularly sensitive to the harmful effects of drugs, especially if the episode was related to their use.
Possible causes are being investigated and, although the mechanisms involved in the onset and progression of symptoms are not known for certain, the vulnerability-stress model is the one that has been most accepted in the most recent research. The person with these psychotic symptoms is more vulnerable than others to developing this disease, which can be caused by a biological appearance or even by a fact in life that precipitated its development.
The treatment plan for a psychotic disorder should be multidisciplinary, coordinated and integrated, as the intervention is usually carried out by several professionals. Recommendations for an appropriate treatment plan include:
Medication is always the treatment of choice for people with psychosis, but this treatment is most effective when combined with psychological intervention. The drugs given to these patients are antipsychotic or neuroleptic. Anxiolytics and antidepressants are also used to treat anxiety and/or depressive symptoms.
It is essential to carry out an intervention at the family level with the aim of making the family aware of the symptoms in order to carry out an adequate control of the patient’s symptoms, some of the objectives of psychoeducation are to provide an adequate explanation of the disorder, reduce the family burden, develop a warm family environment, improve communication Etc.
Medication is always the treatment of choice for people with psychosis, but this treatment is most effective when combined with psychological intervention.
Most people with psychosis have a lack of social skills, which results in an increase in relapses and symptoms, as well as a very social malfunction. These patients work with gestures, verbal fluency, tone of voice, language speed, posture, expression emotional and social perception, etc.
PCR is a behavioral treatment program for schizophrenia, group (5-7 patients), which is performed three times a week, with a minimum duration of three months, consists of 5 modules, including cognitive rehabilitation (cognitive differentiation, social perception and verbal communication) and training in social skills (training in social skills and solving interpersonal problems).
Decidedly, as we have said before, the treatment of psychotic disorders is fundamentally pharmacological and supported by psychological interventions to increase their effectiveness, in this sense pharmacological treatment is very important: it reduces the symptoms of the affected person and helps to keep them in other words, helps to create good conditions to work with that person in therapy.
Bibliography
American Psychiatric Association. Manual Diagnostic and Statistical Mental Disorders (DSM-5), 5th ed. Madrid: Editorial Medica Panamericana, 2014.