Psychosis: What It Really Is

941 Words2 Pages

People have many different opinions on what psychosis really is. Many define it as crazy or not normal, but really, the illnesses vary. It could be schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, hallucinations and delusions, anxiety, even Alzheimer’s and Dementia. It is characterized in all of these illnesses. Psychosis is usually genetic and passed down through different family members. It is an illness that distorts the brain, making thinking unclear. The main question is what really causes someone to be psychotic? What really defines psychosis?

Psychosis is a state of severe mental impairment, which causes the person not to view the real or unreal correctly. (Lecture) People with psychosis often have problems with delusions and hallucinations. Hallucinations are something that people believe to be there. Delusions have two different categories. One could be delusions of grandeur, which is when people believe they are famous, or can go as far as thinking they are god. Another form of delusion is delusion of persecution. This is where a person thinks that everyone is out to get them or that everyone is trying to kill them. (Lecture) Everyday thoughts can become confusing and do not join up properly. It can cause a person to have emotional disturbances. Along with psychosis, there is Alzheimer’s and this means that there is a deterioration of the brain. In early states of psychosis, the brain slowly deteriorates and this causes the delusions and hallucinations. Psychosis usually starts with Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is also hereditary. People with schizophrenia usually can develop symptoms between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. These ages are when people start noticing they have either Schizophrenia or just the actions of Schizophr...

... middle of paper ...

... of different diseases. This is mainly caused by schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These diseases are more common when people are convicted of crimes and murders. They call it pleading insanity. People are seeing more and more of this disease as the years goes on. Although it cannot be proven until a person is deceased, they can have tests done to prove whether the symptoms match or not. Many physicians take this disease very seriously because it is important, and needs to be treated.

Works Cited

Bernheim, Kayla, Richard R.J Lewine. Schizophrenia- Symptoms, Causes, Treatments. New’

York: Boston, 1979. Print

Ghostbusters. Live Ghostbusters. “YouTube.” Web. 2 March. 2011

Siegel, Teresa. Class Lecture. Medication Aide Program. Heath Nursing Care Center, Heath,

OH. 20 October 2010.

Unknown. Trans- Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Web. 2011. 1 March. 2011

Open Document