Causes of Psychosis

When my son Dan was diagnosed with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, his psychiatrist informed me and my husband that Dan was “borderline psychotic.” In other words, our son was out of touch with reality. For most people, psychosis usually presents in one of two ways: Hallucinations – consist of seeing, hearing or feeling things that are not actually there. A common example is hearing voices. Delusions – consist of beliefs that are not likely to be true and that seem irrational or nonsensical to other people. A typical example involves believing that outside forces are controlling your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. At the time we were told of our son’s issues, my thoughts immediately turned to schizophrenia, as that is the illness typically associated with psychosis. And indeed, psychosis is one of the major symptoms of schizophrenia. Because he was borderline psychotic, did my son have schizophrenia in addition to OCD? First, it is important to understand that psychosis, in and of itself, is not an illness. It is a symptom. Just as coughing can be a symptom of anything from post-nasal drip to air pollution to lung cancer, psychosis is usually part of a bigger picture. Schizophrenia is one possibility, and certainly the most common. Below is a list (by no means exhaustive) of some other illnesses or circumstances that might lead to psychosis: Brain disorders. In addition to schizophrenia, illnesses such as bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s, dem...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Caregivers General Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Psychology Delusions Hallucinations Psychosis psychotic behavior Source Type: news