What is Psychosis?
Psychosis is a mental illness which is characterized by a loss of the grip on reality. The person suffering from psychosis suffers from a mental illness which grossly interferes with a person’s ability to deal with their everyday life and perform their everyday activities. The reality testing is completely impaired and the person is unable to tell what is real and what is not.
There are a lot of different symptoms of the condition and different people experience it differently, but psychosis is generally marked with paranoia, sensory hallucinations and delusional thoughts. Symptoms are often intermittent and may come and go. Psychosis may have physical, chemical and biological causes.
There is a marked difference between psychotic disorders and psychosis. While psychotic disorders are usually permanent in nature, psychosis may be completely temporary. In the olden times, psychosis was equated with madness, as a correct diagnosis could often not be made. Electroshock therapy was rampant and there were many fatalities during their therapy. However, there is a better understanding of this condition today and doctors are able to make a diagnosis based on their observation of the affected person as well as personal interviews.
Alternative Names: Psychotic depression