Someone who develops psychosis will have their own individual set of symptoms and experiences, according to their unique circumstances, but in general, 3 main symptoms are associated with a psychotic episode: hallucinations, delusions, and confused and disturbed thoughts. Hallucinations describe sensory experiences that do not exist outside the mind of the individual. For example, seeing colours, shapes or people, hearing voices or other sounds, feeling touched when there is nobody there, noticing an odour or taste that other people cannot smell/a taste when there is nothing in the mouth. A delusion describes an unshakeable belief in something untrue. For example, a person with persecutory delusions may believe an individual or organisation is making plans to hurt or kill them, or a person with grandiose delusions may believe they have the power to bring people back from the dead. People who have psychotic episodes are often unaware that their delusions or hallucinations are not happening in the world, which may lead them to feel frightened or distressed. Disturbed and confused patterns of thought may cause people to speak rapidly, or switch from one topic to another mid-sentence, or pause abruptly.
I see psychosis is an extreme manifestation of great distress, rather than a symptom of mental illness, but if you have experienced psychosis, you might also have a severe mental health diagnosis such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, or even be experiencing a severe form of post-natal depression.
If we find ourselves in an ongoing unbearable situation, experiencing pain (physical and/or psychological) and fear, but we can’t escape from that situation, then it’s possible for our threat response (fight/flight/freeze) to become highly overactive and psychosis might be the result: it’s our brain’s last-ditch attempt to protect us by getting us out of the ongoing unbearable situation. This is an adaptive way of coping that might work at the time, but, once the body and brain have learned to use psychosis to survive they tend to repeat that in the future, which means that the individual is likely to experience psychosis whenever their threat response is again triggered in that way and this can have profoundly adverse effects on their ability to maintain work, relationships and self-care.
In therapy I provide neuroscience psychoeducation so that my clients can fully understand what’s going on and why, that their bodies and brains are reacting in biologically correct and predictable ways: they are not broken, their feelings are entirely valid. I then teach them how to notice that their threat response has been triggered and what kind of people/situations/places/relational dynamics tend to cause that (different for each of us). Then we focus on the skills, tools and tactics needed to find their way to rest and digest, as soon as possible, so that they can think straight and feel comfortable, both physically and emotionally. We also spend time considering new choices about developing healthy habits (physical, emotional and cognitive) which will help to ensure that their threat response is less sensitive (less easily triggered, less often).
I then invite them to consider their family of origin experiences so that they can understand why they interact with others in the way that they do, can consider whether that’s hindering them, and if so, how they can learn to communicate more authentically and get what they want and need from their relationships. I also invite them to tell me their story, when they’re ready, to consider their ancestors experiences (inherited family trauma may be relevant), their childhood experiences, and everything that they have experienced since then, good and bad, to help them to make sense of why they may feel the way they do, and to fully appreciate the context of their lives. Once they understand their sense of self and their “life script”, they can start to consider how they might like to change them for the better.
The combination of gaining new perspectives about what’s going on and why, making new choices about what to do about the things you want to change, developing new skills and healthy habits, and feeling the benefits of those can lead to a real sense of freedom and agency, which is so important for our wellbeing: discovering fulfilling life after psychosis is possible.
You can find out more about inherited family trauma here https://www.theexetercounsellor.com/epigenetics-and-inherited-family-trauma/.
You can find out more about my therapy and fees here https://www.theexetercounsellor.com/how-it-works/ and options for contacting me here https://www.theexetercounsellor.com/contact-me/.
