What is psychosis? Are you experiencing it? Psychosis can manifest in different ways, and this checklist can help you figure out if what you’re experiencing is indeed psychosis. One may use it to self-diagnose or as a worksheet to present to a doctor or therapist or other medical professional and better communicate symptoms they are experiencing. All information is taken from the DSM-5.
In order to for your experience to be considered psychosis, you must experience ONE or more of the following:
Delusions
Hallucinations
Disorganized Thinking
__ / 3
Delusions Must check ONE or more of the following:
I experienced fixed beliefs which won’t change even when I am faced with contradicting evidence.
I am convinced an individual or group is going to harm me, even though I have no evidence they want to do so, and no reason to believe they do. (Exception: Many people who feel someone intends to harm them do have reason for doing so, but are gaslighted into believing they are instead delusional.)
I will believe certain gestures, comments, or environmental cues are directed at me, even once it’s proven to me they are not.
I believe I have exceptional abilities, wealth, or fame.
I believe someone is in love with me, even when they have told me they are not.
I believe a major catastrophe is going to occur, despite having no evidence or being presented with evidence disproving my belief.
I am preoccupied with the thought something is wrong with my body or organs, despite having no symptoms or having proof nothing is wrong with me.
I feel as if my thoughts are not my own, or that I am being controlled.
__ / 8
Symptoms MUST cause distress in social, occupational, or interpersonal functioning.
Hallucinations Must check ONE or more of the following:
I experience incredibly vivid experiences without an external stimulus.
I hear voices, whether familiar or unfamiliar, which are separate from my own thoughts.
I see things which are not really there, very clearly as if they are physically there.
__ / 3
Symptoms MUST only be present while the person is fully awake, and not right before going to bed or when just waking up. Hallucinating before and after sleep is quite normal.
Disorganized Thinking Must check ONE or more of the following:
I switch from one topic to another very quickly, and the topics are not related to each other at all.
My answers to questions are hardly related to the questions asked, or not related at all.
My speech is disorganized and it’s hard to understand me. (must be severe enough to impair communication, as disorganized speech is common in non-psychotic disorders)
__ / 3
Who made you this way? And do they still matter?
Don’t let someone who is no longer in your life affect you (via isaacwrites)
This is my home. Smdh.
All done with my dominant hand in a cast (except for this posting!). Rather proud of myself. I apologize for the poor lighting.
I was trying to explain this to a friend the other day. I get these premonitions in dreams I can never recall, though I know I dreamt something. It doesn't come back to me until a split second before the event happens as deja vu. Then I dissociate and know exactly what's happening. It makes me believe in reliving a previous universe. That or I'm just batshit crazy. I'm just now coming into my diagnosis as well, but this has happened all my life.
Is it a common schizo thing to have really intense deja vu? I’m not talking like ‘hey I just saw a cat I’ve seen a cat on this street before wow’ but like,, intense “I’ve been here before this has happened before” type of thing? In this exact building doing this exact thing thinking the same thing with the same story/journey/how I got here/ leading up to it. I dunno insight would be wonderful
😖😖😖😖😖
here’s to all the people whose lives will be endangered for the next four years. here’s to all the people who aren’t white, straight, cis, male, rich, old, abled or Christian.
here’s to the Jewish people, and Muslims, and Buddhists, and Sikhs, and atheists, and other non-Christian religions.
here’s to gay people, and lesbians, and transgender people, and bisexual people, and asexual people, and intersex people, and pansexual people, and agender people, and genderfluid people, and everyone else who isn’t straight or cis.
here’s to women, trans and cis and genderfluid and agender and intersex and otherwise. here’s to women who won’t be able to get an abortion or seek help from planned parenthood.
here’s to black people, and to brown people, and to Hispanics, and to Latinx people, and to people of Asian descent, and to Native Americans, and to mixed people, and to everyone else who isn’t white. here’s to the immigrants who don’t know if they’ll be able to stay in the same country as their family.
here’s to the young people who’ll be in debt for decades because of college tuition. here’s to the young people who can’t even afford to go to college in the first place.
here’s to people who can’t afford to go to college. here’s to people who can’t get a well paying job because of their gender, race, sexual identity, or otherwise. here’s to people who will never know what it’s like to be financially comfortable. here’s to people that can’t afford a quick trip to the hospital and never will because of no medical insurance.
here’s to mentally disabled people, and physically disabled, and people who are both. here’s to mentally ill people who aren’t getting the help they need because they can’t pay for it or don’t know how to ask for it or are told they’re overreacting.
here’s to everyone who voted for a real change in order to be let down by the stupid and bigoted people in this racist, misogynistic, classist, abilist, anti-Semitic, Islamaphobic, homophobic, transphobic, and every other kind of ugly country. you don’t deserve this, and you never did.
and lastly: “all men are created equal.” here’s to that being the biggest piece of bullshit anyone has ever written.
Hypomania
Hypomania is a mood episode that mostly people with type II bipolar disorder experience (but people with type I can experience it too) similar to mania. The difference between mania and hypomania is that in hypomania, the individual does not require hospitalization and there are never any psychotic features present. Individuals in a hypomanic episode typically experience:
Increase in energy
Decreased sleep
Pressured speech
Increase in goal-oriented activity
Irritability
Elevated mood
Psychomotor agitation
Grandiosity
Disinhibition and focus on instant gratification that can result in spending sprees or risky sexual behaviour
It is important to note that these changes in mood and behaviour are enough to draw the attention of others, especially family and friends. It is important that you have a friend or family member that can act as your “life guard”….someone to tell you when they notice these behaviours, and someone who you trust enough to take their word on it.
Mixed Episode
A mood episode that includes features of mania/hypomania and depression simultaneously.
Diagnostic Criteria for the Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder
Type I: One or more manic episodes. A depressive or hypomanic episode is not required for diagnosis, but it frequently occurs.
Type II: One or more hypomanic episodes and one or more major depressive episodes.
Cyclothymia: History of hypomanic episodes with periods of depression that do not meet criteria for major depressive episodes. Low-grade cycling of mood which appears to the observer as a personality trait, and interferes with functioning.
BD NOS (not otherwise specified): Catchall category. Diagnosed when the disorder does not fall within a specific subtype.
Types of Cycling
Rapid cycling: Four + episodes per year.
Ultra rapid cycling: Several distinct episodes within a week
Ultra radiant cycling: multiple episodes within the same day
#crochet
If you knit or crochet, you can see where this is going…
Trump is only two points ahead in Texas now. If you’re in Texas and vote third party or don’t vote this year, I will personally never forgive you for stealing the joy of watching the GOP freak out at Texas going blue from me.
Struggling with mental illness after a traumatic event most likely caused by mental illness. Sexual Assault Survivor.
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