Ask About Psychosis- No Stupid Questions

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Welcome To Psychosis Is!

My goal in creating this blog is to dispel misconceptions surrounding psychosis and psychotic disorders. Asks are always open.

As a reminder, I am just one person, and am not representative of everyone's experience. If you've had a different experience with psychosis, feel free to chime in!

If you or someone you know are in crisis or immediate danger, contact medical professionals, not a Tumblr blog.

FAQ

Are psychotic people dangerous?

This is like asking if depressed people are dangerous. In some cases, psychotic people may harm themselves or others, but this is motivated by fear, not a genuine desire to hurt people.

Can it be cured?

This depends heavily on the individual person and is the subject of much medical research. I am not a psychiatrist, so take this with a grain of salt, but in my experience most psychosis cannot be fully 'cured' (i.e. the possibility of another episode can never be fully eliminated) but symptoms can be managed and chances can be lowered. Plenty of people on the psychosis spectrum live normal lives.

What's your diagnosis?

This is not a question you should go around asking random people, but I am volunteering this information for the purposes of running this blog. I am officially diagnosed with Intermittent Psychotic Disorder, OCD, and ADHD. I have also been informed that I show many signs of autism, but have chosen not to seek a diagnosis.

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Psychotic Characters Pt. 2

Welcome back! Let's ignore the fact that it's been two months.

So, you have a character who you've decided is going to be psychotic. Let's look at how that affects their relationships and life. As a reminder, this is based off of my personal experience and what others have told me. Feel free to chime in if you've had a different experience!

Interpersonal Relationships

Making and keeping friends can be very difficult for people with psychotic disorders. Even if they don't find out about your disorder or are able to look past it, they might be driven away by strange behaviors- difficulty with social cues, saying strange things, issues with personal hygiene. This doesn't mean you shouldn't give your characters close, understanding friends, though. Plenty of people have them, and besides, books are at least partially a means of escaping reality.

Personally, I try to avoid anyone other than family members during an episode, as I'm very scared of accidentally saying something wrong and ruining a friendship. Most psychotic people are not as lucky as me, and don't have accepting family members to lean on. In this case, they may ask friends to help them through an episode. This will usually be through a mutually agreed upon set of questions to help the affected person determine whether or not they're having an episode. This is not something you should attempt to do for someone who hasn't asked you to, as it can be very disturbing or frightening when coming from someone unexpected or untrusted, even if you know the right things to say.

Treatment

The most common form of treatment for psychotic disorders is antipsychotic medication. There are a variety of reasons why someone may not be medicated, though: antipsychotics can have very severe side effects, and many psychiatrists don't respect psychotic people's opinions enough to switch their medication when these side effects are reported, assuming the person can afford to see a psychiatrist in the first place.

Even professionals will often be discriminatory and stereotypical. My psychiatrist doesn't believe that I'm psychotic because I "seem too normal", despite the fact that she's been prescribing me antipsychotics for years. Navigating the medical system takes education and money, which many people simply don't have.

Does your character use medication? How often? What are its benefits and costs? How are they able to access it?

Conclusion

Psychotic people also often experience financial hardship, but I feel that I myself don't have enough experience with this to give you a nuanced and accurate view. This is absolutely something you should take into consideration, though. If your character is financially stable, how so? Are they able to hold down a job? Do they have parental support or an inheritance?

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll be happy to help as long as you're polite and open-minded.

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How To Write A Psychotic Character

Hello! I've been getting pretty tired of not seeing characters like me (or that are supposed to be like me but... aren't). The good news is, you too can write a psychotic character, even if you aren't on the spectrum yourself! Here are a few quick tips, and feel free to reach out to me if you have any specific questions

1: Don't make them a murderer/serial killer

The bar is on the floor here. This is a stereotype that gets people killed.

"But I have a legitimate reason!"

To enforce a stereotype that gets people killed? No, you don't.

"But it's a subversion of the trope!"

Do you have personal experience relating to psychosis? Do you understand fully how this portrayal harms people? If not, no it isn't.

"But real psychotic people can be murderers!"

So can real autistic people. How would you feel if every single autistic character was the villain in a slasher movie?

With that out of the way, let's move on to...

2: Consider their symptoms

Psychosis is defined as a combination of hallucinations and delusions, but many more symptoms may occur. Personally, I've experienced all of the following at various times:

Auditory hallucinations (Phones ringing, insects buzzing, screaming, and thudding sounds are the most common)

Visual hallucinations (Usually discoloration- like looking through an instagram filter)

Delusions (A different one each time for me, more about this later)

Severe mood swings (I literally cursed out a litter of kittens once)

Difficulty speaking (I can still write just fine for some reason, not sure about others)

Compulsions (This may be because of my comorbid OCD)

General confusion and fear

Your character may experience any combination of these (though probably only a handful at a time). They may also experience things not on this list, as many people do.

3: Delusions and insight

Delusions are the persistent belief that something clearly irrational is happening or will happen. Not fear, belief. Insight is your ability to determine that delusions and hallucinations are not real. Personally, I have very high insight when medicated and am able to tell very quickly that I am having an episode, sometimes even before the bulk of the symptoms start.

"But if you can tell it's not real, doesn't that mean it's not a delusion?"

This is probably the hardest thing for non-psychotic people to understand. Yes, I am able to tell people that my delusions are not real, and usually behave like they're not real as well. That doesn't mean that I do not believe them. When asked about my delusions, my first instinct is to say that they are real, and I have to make the conscious decision to contradict them. It's like if the earth was discovered to be flat- you can see all the evidence and accept it, but part of you will never really believe it.

Some examples of types of delusions I've had:

X person can read my mind

X person wants to hurt me

I am being watched or stalked

If I do not complete X action, I will die/disappear (different from a compulsion)

I am dead or not real

Some basic tenet of the world around me is not true (e.g. space is not real, only the earth exists)

My delusions tend towards the paranoid, but just about anything can be a delusion. Even if it seems silly, it can be a serious problem for the person experiencing it.

This is getting a bit long, so I'll make a part two later.