Psychotic disorders and Schizophrenia
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Psychosis is a condition that affects the way the brain reads the environment around and processes information. It causes loss of touch with reality. When this is the case, people can see, hear, feel or believe things that are not real. With different gradation, people are disconnected from reality and experience sensations and thoughts that other people don’t. Sometimes they can interpret reality in ways that do not conform with the majority of the population. Psychosis is a symptom, not an illness. It can be triggered by a mental illness, a physical injury or illness, substance abuse, or extreme stress or trauma.
The most common causes of psychosis in mental illnesses are schizophrenia, which involves psychotic symptoms that usually affect people for the first time in the late teens or early adulthood. Psychotic symptoms are also common during severe manic phases in Bipolar Disorder and can also be associated with Depression.
People can also lose touch with reality even when they don’t have a primary psychotic illness. These episodes stem from multiple causes, like drug use or a medical condition. They are usually short-lasting if the primary causes are treated or eliminated.
