All About Bipolar

Posted By atorturedsoul on April 26, 2009

Imaginary Friends

Psychosis is defined as a loss of contact with reality. Persons suffering from psychosis are said to be psychotic. You may also hear it referred to as having a psychotic break. Psychosis or a psychotic episode is associated with Bipolar I.

A psychotic episode can have one or more of the following symptoms:

* Hallucinations
* Delusions
* Thought disorder
* Lack of insight

There is some confusion concerning what constitutes a hallucination. It is commonly believed that it just means a person is seeing things that aren’t there but that is hardly the case. A hallucination can involve any of the five senses. A person can imagine a smell, taste, or touch in addition to seeing or hearing things that do not exist. Hallucinations can vary in severity and may range from such things as smelling flowers to seeing a person holding flowers and even hearing them walk towards you and feeling them place the flowers in your hand. Audible hallucinations can range from hearing a mumbling that you don’t understand to having a conversation with a voice.

Psychosis may involve paranoia or delusions. It’s quite common for a psychotic person to feel like the world is out to get them.

Thought disorder appears in speech and writing. It can become so severe that spoken or written words might make no sense at all.

A lack of insight is when a person has no idea that they are hallucinating or delusional. At this stage, a person is disconnected from reality. They are incapable of distinguishing between what is real and what is not.

I personally have had hallucinations that were pleasant, such as smelling my favorite food, and some that were terrifying, such as seeing myself jump off a bridge and being able to feel when I hit the water.

If you have any of these symptoms, please contact your primary care physician or a mental health professional immediately for evaluation. If you are diagnosed with any form of bipolar disorder and your symptoms become worse and/or you experience a psychotic episode, contact your doctor immediately for re-evaluation.

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Categories: About Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar 1
Tags: bipolar I, hallucinations, hearing things, lack of insight, Psychosis, psychotic break, thought disorder