psychosis

Psychosis is a condition that affects a person’s mind and causes changes to the way that they think, feel and behave. A person who experiences psychosis may be unable to distinguish between reality and their imagination. People who are experiencing psychosis are sometimes referred to as psychotic. They may have hallucinations (where you see or hear things that are not there) and/or delusions (where you believe things that are untrue).

Our psychosis Blogs

We don’t know if general health advice improves physical health for patients with serious mental illness

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For me, one of the most infuriating aspects of health care is the relegation of mental health problems, and mental health services, as secondary to physical health. There are a myriad of examples of this, from the classic stigma that people with mental health problems receive compared to those with physical health problems (fantastically illustrated [read the full story…]

A new model for schizophrenia?

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Stephen Wood
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Schizophrenia is a complex disorder (or, more likely, group of disorders) that has reality distortion at its core. Efforts to establish the cause of schizophrenia have been ongoing for more than a century, and many models have come and gone in that time (not for nothing has schizophrenia been called ‘the graveyard of neuropathologists’ (Plum, [read the full story…]

Childhood nightmares, night terrors, sleepwalking and psychotic experiences

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Joe Judge
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I was a terrible sleeper as a child. I remember lying awake on one particular occasion because I had read a book about space and thought that the sun might swallow up the earth. I was intrigued then, when I was asked to review a paper for the Mental Elf about parasomnias and childhood psychotic [read the full story…]

“Psychokiller, qu’est-ce que c’est”. The risk of violent re-offending among prisoners with psychotic experiences

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Andrew Shepherd
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In England and Wales, the Mental Health Act (1983, revised 2007) allows for the detention of individuals to hospital for a period of assessment (Section 2) or treatment (Section 3) if it is deemed that they suffer with a mental disorder of a nature or degree sufficient to warrant admission to hospital and it is necessary [read the full story…]

Cannabis, cigarette smoking and psychosis: do we need a rethink?

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The relationship between cannabis and psychosis has been one of the hottest topics in psychiatry over the last decade, and with good reason. Policy-makers still disagree on whether cannabis should be legalised or how it should be classified, with Uruguay being the most recent country to legalise it. Drawing broadly from work initiated by Robin [read the full story…]

Rates of psychosis in epilepsy may not be as high as previously reported, says new systematic review

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Emma Cernis
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For many years, psychiatry has highlighted that people with epilepsy appear to have an elevated risk for psychosis.  However, studies exploring this relationship (of which there are many) seem to disagree on just what the prevalence of psychosis is in this group.  For example, Gudmundsson (1966) interviewed every patient with epilepsy in Iceland and concluded [read the full story…]

Black patients’ first contact with mental health services is more likely to be coercive

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It is well documented that there are differences in how patients are treated, depending on their ethnicity. Previous inquiries in the UK have suggested that the NHS is institutionally racist (Blofeld et al, 2003). Some groups, for example those from African Caribbean or Aboriginal descent, experience more coercive care and poor outcomes, including higher doses of [read the full story…]

Children of older fathers have an increased risk of psychiatric and academic problems, says new cohort study

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Joanna Martin
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Research suggests that the risk of developing psychiatric problems (such as autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability or schizophrenia) may be linked to increased paternal age at the time of conception. This seems quite plausible given that advancing age in men is associated with increased genetic mutations in sperm. However, studies so far have generally not [read the full story…]

New study demonstrates effectiveness of antipsychotic Pimavanserin for Parkinson’s disease psychosis

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Raphael Underwood
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When we think of Parkinson’s disease (PD), hallucinations and delusions are probably not the first symptoms that come to mind. And yet, it is estimated that nearly half of all patients with PD experience psychotic symptoms at one time or another. Although deficits in motor function are seen as the hallmark of PD, it is [read the full story…]

Is the Dodo finally dead?

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Andrew Shepherd
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There’s been a lot of chatter here in the woodlands about the role of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in psychosis – what do service users think of it? Can it be used in place of antipsychotics for some people? Outside of the woodlands, CBT for psychosis has also been generating a lot of attention: Does [read the full story…]