Understanding a Psychotic Break and Psychotic Episodes
What Is a Psychotic Break?
A psychotic break, also known as a psychotic episode, is a temporary period in which you lose connection with reality and, in many cases, require immediate psychiatric care.
During this kind of episode, you may experience hallucinations, during which you see or hear things that aren’t really there. You may also experience disordered thinking or speech, as well as delusions. Delusions are strongly held false beliefs that are not based on reality or evidence.
Experiencing a psychotic break can be a highly distressing experience. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, consider reaching out to our team at Alta Loma today.
What Happens When Someone Goes Through a Psychotic Break?
When someone goes through a psychotic break, they lose touch with reality and may have difficulty determining what is real and what is not.
In addition to hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking, you may also experience changes in perception. This may make it difficult to maintain or understand conversations. You might also experience intense paranoia or believe that people are either watching you or out to get you.
In some cases, you may experience a loss of insight and may be unable to understand that you need help. This may make you reluctant to reach out for necessary medical care.
How Is a Psychotic Break Different From an Episode of Psychosis?
A psychotic break is an informal term used to describe the experience of a sudden onset of severe psychotic symptoms.
An episode of psychosis is a term more commonly used by mental health professionals that involves a period of time during which an individual is experiencing psychotic symptoms.
What Mental Health Conditions Are Associated With Psychosis?
Some mental health conditions that are associated with psychosis include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression.
Some forms of substance use can also be associated with psychosis.
How Long Does a Psychotic Episode Last?
A psychotic episode can last different lengths of time for different people.
In some cases, a psychotic episode can be brief, lasting only around a few days. However, in other cases, psychotic episodes can persist for months, especially if you do not reach out for mental health assistance.
Common Causes of a Psychotic Break
What Causes a Psychotic Break?
Many different factors can contribute to a psychotic break, including struggling with a mental health condition such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder.
Other factors could include brain chemistry imbalances, substance use, trauma, severe stress, brain injuries, certain medications, and sleep deprivation.
How Do Conditions Like Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Contribute?
Conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder can increase your risk of experiencing a psychotic break because they impact the way that you perceive and interpret reality.
These conditions also affect how the brain processes emotions and thought patterns.
Can Substance Use Trigger Psychotic Symptoms?
Yes, substance use can trigger psychotic symptoms and can also exacerbate pre-existing mental health conditions, making symptoms worse.
Substance use can have this effect because it changes the levels of dopamine, a critical neurotransmitter, in the brain. Dopamine plays an important role in how the brain processes reality.
Some of the substances that have been linked to the triggering of psychotic symptoms include stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine. Other substances could include cannabis, alcohol, and certain prescription medications.
Early intervention is very important to ensure that symptoms don’t worsen in severity.
What Role Do Stressors and Underlying Medical Conditions Play?
External stressors and underlying medical conditions can trigger psychotic episodes or make pre-existing psychotic symptoms worse.
Over time, intense stress can cause emotional strain and can increase cortisol levels. In turn, this can result in brain imbalances.
Some of these external stressors may include:
- Relationship problems
- Having a sick loved one
- Financial strain
- Job loss
- The death of a loved one
- Trauma
- Major life transitions
Underlying medical conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease and dementia, can also make an individual more vulnerable to experiencing psychotic symptoms.
Early Warning Signs of Psychosis
What Are the Early Signs of a Psychotic Break?
Early signs of a psychotic break may include a shift in the way you perceive reality, social withdrawal, or emotional changes.
Additional signs may include changes in thinking or perception, such as trouble concentrating or following along with conversations. This may also include being overly suspicious or paranoid.
Other early warning signs may include:
- Mood swings
- Losing interest in activities you used to enjoy
- Believing things that seem irrational to other people
- Persistent fear that others are judging you
- Disorganized thoughts or speech
- Changes in sleeping habits
- No longer being able to function as normal
How Do Changes in Behavior and Personal Hygiene Signal a Problem?
Changes in behavior or personal hygiene often are early signs that point to the onset of psychosis.
Changes in behavioral or personal hygiene may include:
- Not showering regularly
- Wearing the same clothes repeatedly without washing them
- Withdrawing from friends and family
- No longer showing interest in old hobbies or activities
- Struggling to keep up with work or school
- Appearing unusually disorganized
- Neglecting your own basic care
These, along with paranoia, disrupted sleep, and declining performance in work or school, reflect early behavioral shifts and severe apathy or cognitive dysfunction.
Can Suspicion or Social Withdrawal Be Warning Signs?
Yes, experiencing high suspiciousness of others or withdrawing from friends and family members can be early warning signs of psychosis.
How Do Family Members Recognize Signs of Psychosis?
Family members can recognize the signs that their loved one may be experiencing psychosis by educating themselves on the most common symptoms to look out for.
The signs of psychosis often don’t happen all at once but gradually over time. Ensuring you know what to look for is key – it can help you encourage your loved one to seek help immediately rather than waiting until their symptoms progress further.
Some key things to look for involve changes in a person’s typical behavior or personality. Psychosis can present itself in different ways in different people. However, those closest to the individual are often the first to notice that something feels “off” about them.
For example, maybe your loved one has been isolating themselves from their friends or family. Maybe they are exhibiting a declining performance at work or school, or struggling to keep up with daily tasks. Perhaps they no longer show the same interest and excitement in the passions and hobbies that once meant the most to them.
All of these things, combined, can be signs of a deeper issue going on, and that your loved one needs to receive professional health care as soon as possible.
Other primary signs to be on the lookout for include:
- No longer keeping up with basic hygiene
- Exhibiting strange or unpredictable behavior
- Appearing overly paranoid or suspicious of others
- Expressing persistent false beliefs that are not based in reality
- Exhibiting sudden mood swings
- Seeming unusually irritable or on edge
- Perceiving things that aren’t really there
- Changes in sleeping patterns
If you believe that your loved one is exhibiting these signs, it is best to approach them and encourage them to seek mental health services as soon as possible.
Alta Loma provides long-term psychiatry-driven treatment for adult men and women struggling with psychosis, whether related to a psychotic disorder or another mental health condition.
Symptoms of Psychosis and Psychotic Breaks
What Are the Symptoms of Psychosis?
The key symptoms of psychosis are hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking or speech.
In some cases, you may also appear paranoid or overly suspicious of others.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), most commonly, the symptoms of psychosis involve changes in how you perceive reality.
What Are the 5 Main Symptoms of Schizophrenia?
The five main symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations, disordered speech or thinking, disordered language, and negative symptoms, which could involve anything that reflects an absence of normal functioning.
In schizophrenia, negative symptoms could present as the following:
- Social withdrawal
- Loss of interest in normal activities
- Lack of motivation
- Appearing emotionally flat
How Do Hallucinations Like Hearing Voices Present?
Those experiencing hallucinations as part of psychosis may hear voices that are not really there and that nobody else around them can hear.
If you are hearing voices, they may be familiar or unfamiliar voices, and they may be just one voice or multiple voices. The voices may make commands, negative remarks, or simply be conversational.
You may respond to voices that nobody else can hear and also appear distressed. Additionally, you may have difficulty keeping up with real conversations because you are distracted by these voices.
Due to fear of hearing these voices, you may also avoid certain places or situations.
What Are Delusions or False Beliefs?
Delusions are persistent, false beliefs that are not based on evidence or reality.
Someone experiencing false beliefs may continue to hold on to them even when others try to reason with them or convince them that these things are not true. This can impact overall functioning and decision-making, and may lead to danger if professional help is not sought.
How Do Psychotic Symptoms Affect Daily Functioning?
Psychotic symptoms can make it highly difficult, if not impossible, to function regularly on a day-to-day basis without professional treatment.
Who Is at Risk for a Psychotic Break
Are Young Adults and Adolescents More at Risk?
Yes, young people are often considered to be more at risk of experiencing a psychotic break – it is often at this time in life that the first signs and symptoms of a mental health disorder begin to present themselves.
Males commonly experience their first psychotic break anywhere from their late teens to early twenties. For females, it is often more common to experience a first psychotic break in one’s early to mid twenties.
Several other factors can contribute to young people being more at risk of experiencing a psychotic break, including incomplete brain development, inability to properly regulate emotions, major life transitions, and external stressors.
If you are already struggling with an anxiety disorder or mood disorder, you may also face a heightened risk of psychosis.
How Do Anxiety Disorders or Mood Disorders Increase Risk?
Both anxiety disorders and mood disorders can increase your vulnerability to experiencing a psychotic break, particularly if these conditions are left untreated.
Anxiety disorders can lead to heightened symptoms of paranoia, impaired cognition and focus, and sleep disruption. Similarly, mood disorders can contribute to some of the same symptoms associated with a psychotic break, including delusions.
Can Neurological Conditions Like Alzheimer’s Disease or Parkinson’s Disease Cause Psychosis?
Yes, due to the impact on brain function and structure, neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s can lead to psychosis.
What to Do During a Psychotic Break
How Do I Know If I’m Having a Psychotic Break?
If you’re experiencing impaired insight or feel as if you are losing touch with reality, you may be experiencing a psychotic break.
Other symptoms to be on the lookout for include:
- Experiencing disordered thoughts
- Having trouble focusing
- Experiencing increased levels of anxiety or irritability
- Feeling overly paranoid or having trouble trusting others
- Perceiving things that aren’t really there
If you do think that you may be experiencing a psychotic break, you should seek professional help immediately rather than waiting to see if your symptoms progress.
What Should You Do if a Loved One Is Experiencing a Psychotic Episode?
If you think your loved one is experiencing a psychotic episode, you should encourage them to seek professional help immediately.
It is important to remain calm and grounded, stay with them if you think they may put themselves or others around them at risk, and communicate with them as clearly as possible. You can offer to call a mental health professional for them or go with them to an appointment.
When Should You Seek Help From a Mental Health Professional?
If you feel that you are experiencing symptoms that align with psychosis, you should seek help from a mental health professional immediately rather than waiting for symptoms to progress.
When Is Hospitalization Necessary for Safety?
Hospitalization may be necessary if the psychotic symptoms you are experiencing cause you to be a threat to yourself or others.
Treatment for Psychotic Breaks
What Are the Most Effective Treatment Options for Psychosis?
The most effective treatment options for psychosis involve medication management, psychiatric care, and evidence-based psychotherapy approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
How Do Antipsychotic Medications Help Stabilize Symptoms?
Antipsychotic medications primarily work by blocking dopamine receptors in the brain, which helps to stabilize psychotic symptoms, reducing the excessive activity of this neurotransmitter that is linked to hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia.
What Role Does Psychotherapy Play in Recovery?
Psychotherapy helps you better understand what you are experiencing, how to deal with your symptoms effectively, and how to develop long-term coping mechanisms that will help in long-term recovery.
How Does Behavioral Health Treatment Support Long-Term Wellness?
Behavioral health treatment helps get to the underlying cause of whatever mental health disorder you may be experiencing and develop greater stability and emotional resilience.
Recovery and Life After a Psychotic Break
Can You Go Back to Normal After Psychosis?
Through consistent treatment, it is possible for someone who has experienced psychosis to live a normal life.
Do People Remember Their Psychotic Breaks?
People sometimes, but do not always, remember the full details of their psychotic breaks.
Does a Psychotic Break Damage the Brain?
A psychotic break doesn’t cause physical damage to the brain, but it can cause problems with overall cognitive function over time.
How Can Self-Care and Ongoing Treatment Support Stability?
Self-care and ongoing treatment help ensure that progress continues over time, improve coping skills, and prevent the risk of relapse.
Psychotic Breaks and Co-Occurring Conditions
How Is Psychosis Linked to Substance Use and Mental Illness?
Substance use and mental illness can increase the vulnerability of developing psychosis, as well as the severity of symptoms.
Can Multiple Mental Health Disorders Occur at the Same Time?
Yes, multiple mental health disorders can occur simultaneously.
When to Seek Immediate Help
What Are the Signs of a Mental Health Crisis?
The signs of a mental health crisis may include severe functional decline, risky behaviors, paranoia, or thoughts of self-harm/suicide.
When Should You Contact a Helpline or Crisis Lifeline?
If you believe that you or someone you know may put themselves or others in danger as a result of psychotic symptoms, it is important to contact a helpline immediately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can psychosis happen without a diagnosed mental illness?
Yes, psychosis can happen even without a diagnosed mental illness.
Psychosis is a symptom, not a specific mental health disorder, and can occur due to severe stress, extreme sleep deprivation, or substance misuse.
What is the difference between psychosis and schizophrenia?
Psychosis is a symptom, while schizophrenia is a diagnosed mental health disorder.
Is recovery possible with long-term treatment?
Yes, through consistent long-term treatment, recovery is possible from psychosis.
How can early intervention improve outcomes?
Early intervention ensures you can be stabilized as soon as possible, which can reduce symptom severity, improve your response to treatment, and increase the likelihood of long-term successful recovery.
If you or a loved one is experiencing a psychotic break, help is available. Long-term, psychiatry-driven treatment is available to help you achieve lasting stability and wellness. Call Alta Loma at (866) 457-3843 to learn about our program.
