Types of psychosis and their characteristics

Psychosis is largely unknown to the general population; There are many myths, and frequently, the information provided by specialized media is misleading. And the term “psychosis” continues to carry a considerable stigma, often accompanied by confusing data fed by movies, series and the collective imagination.

Even so, it is a term that is used less and less, since mental health professionals mostly choose to refer to the specific disorder that the person suffers from. For this reason, in this article we will present the different types of psychosis and their main characteristics.

What exactly is psychosis?

The term psychosis was first coined by German physician Karl Friedrich Canstatt in the mid-19th century. However, it was Sigmund Freud who popularized it with some of his theories.

Currently, the concept “psychosis” has been transformed and updated, and is used to designate those mental disorders in which the person loses connection with reality. Thus, the person may experience delusions and hallucinations, among others, in addition to adopting strange and unconventional behaviors. Let’s look at the most frequent symptoms.

Psychosis is characterized by loss of contact with reality and worsening social functioning.

Most common psychotic symptoms

Psychotic disorders are characterized by a series of symptoms. The most common are the following:

Delusions. Delusions are fixed beliefs that people accept as valid, even if they are proven wrong with evidence. There are many types, but some of the most common are the persecutory ones, the referencesdelusions of grandeur or somatic ones.hallucinations. The hallucinations They are perceptions that are had without the presence of the external stimulus. They can occur in any sensory modality, although auditory modality often prevails over others in psychotic disorders.Disorganized speech. It is characterized by poorly structured thinking in which the subject changes from one topic to another without meaning, answers incoherently on many occasions and the speech can even become incomprehensible.Very disorganized or abnormal motor behavior. The subject may do stupid things that attract attention, present great motor agitation or, on the contrary, catatonic behavior characterized by a marked decrease in motor reactions.Negative symptoms. Especially present in schizophrenia, the person can manifest them through a reduced expression of emotions on a physical level, decreased activities, poor communication, decreased ability to enjoy and loss of interest in interacting socially.

Main types of psychoses

Like any other disorder, psychosis can affect people quite differently, both in intensity and in the symptoms themselves. In addition, it must be taken into account that when a person experiences a psychotic episode for the first time, it can be quite complex to find a diagnosis.

This happens because the appearance of symptoms is usually due to multi-causal factors, and it is not always easy to determine them. Therefore, It is common for the initial diagnosis to be provisional until the patient’s own evolution helps to adjust the diagnosis. Let’s see which are the most frequent.

Schizotypal disorder

Schizotypal disorder is a personality disorder, but is considered part of the schizophrenia spectrum given its symptoms. Among others, people with this disorder may present eccentric thoughts, beliefs in special powers, unusual perceptions, a particular way of speaking or dressing.

One difference from schizophrenia is that people with schizotypal disorder tend to be more aware of the difference between reality and their distorted ideas. In contrast, people with schizophrenia show much more difficulty moving away from their delusions.

delusional disorder

Delusional disorder is a psychotic disorder characterized by the presence of delusions. For example, we could be convinced that someone is after us or wants to harm us, mistakenly believe that a person is in love with us, or be convinced that a great catastrophe is coming.

Leaving aside the delirium, the person is usually relatively functional in other areas of your life, which can further confuse those around you. A proportion of subjects with delusional disorder will eventually develop schizophrenia.

Brief psychotic disorder

This type of disorder is characterized by a very abrupt onset, manifesting at least one of the following symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech or abnormal psychomotor behavior such as catatonia.

In general, people experience great emotional turmoil, great confusion, or very marked emotional changes. In this type of disorder, symptoms subside completely within a few days or weeks.

Schizophreniform disorder

The symptoms of schizophreniform disorder are the same as those of schizophrenia. The main difference is that in schizophreniform disorder they are present for at least one month, but less than six.

Therefore, it is usually a provisional diagnosis. If the person continues to present the same symptoms beyond six months, the diagnosis becomes schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is perhaps the best known psychotic disorder. In addition to the presence of most of the most common symptoms described above, people with schizophrenia may show inappropriate affect, dysphoric mood, alterations in sleep patterns, or rejection of food.

Anxious manifestations, such as depersonalization, derealization or phobias, may also occur. As well as cognitive deficit, attention difficulties or difficulties when relating.

Schizoaffective disorder

In this type of disorder the person simultaneously presents a mood disorder (major depression or mania) along with characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking.

Although they share a good part of schizophrenic symptoms, people with schizoaffective disorder usually suffer from less marked symptoms and better maintain social contact or self-care. They also have a better capacity for introspection than people diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Substance-induced psychotic disorder

The origin of this disorder is the consumption of some type of drug.. Having stopped suddenly can also induce symptoms of delirium or hallucinations to manifest.

In many cases, the symptoms subside once the effect of the drug consumed has passed, but in other cases It can be maintained over time despite stopping consumption.

Substance-induced psychotic disorder is characterized by hallucinations and delusions due to substance use or withdrawal.

Psychotic disorder due to another medical condition

In this case, people manifest psychotic symptoms as a result of suffering from an injury, a tumor, an infection, a trauma or different pathologies. Among the most common medical conditions that can present psychotic symptoms are neurological pathologies such as epilepsy, Huntington’s disease or multiple sclerosis.

It can also occur in endocrine pathologies such as hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, metabolic disorders, liver and kidney diseases, and autoimmune disorders. In these cases, the psychotic disorder can occur punctually or recurrently.

Final considerations about the types of psychosis

As we have described, the most common types of psychosis They can occur punctually over time or become chronic. In any case, to reduce its influence on the person’s well-being and ability to adapt, it is very important that the disorder is detected in time.

Given that in many cases people who suffer from psychotic symptoms are not fully aware of their problem, it is recommended that those of us who detect any possible signs of psychosis in a family member or close person contact a medical professional who can guide us on how to proceed.

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