Experiencing psychosis can be profoundly disorienting and distressing, characterized by a significant disconnect from reality. Based on the symptoms of psychosis, it's more than just feeling "off"; it's a shift in perception and thinking.
Understanding the Subjective Experience of Psychosis
The subjective experience of psychosis is multifaceted, varying significantly from person to person. However, common elements consistently emerge, which can be categorized using symptoms of psychosis as a guide:
Table of Subjective Experiences of Psychosis
| Symptom | Subjective Experience |
|---|---|
| Confused Thinking | Thoughts may feel jumbled, disorganized, or racing. Difficulty concentrating, following a conversation, or making decisions is common. The person may feel like their thinking is not their own or controlled by an external force. |
| Delusions | A person experiencing delusions holds beliefs that are not based in reality and that others do not share. These beliefs can be very powerful and deeply felt, and are not easily swayed by evidence to the contrary. For example, they might feel targeted, believe they have special powers, or think that events have a hidden meaning directed solely at them. |
| Hallucinations | Experiencing sensations that aren't real: this can include hearing voices, seeing things that are not present, smelling nonexistent odors, or having tactile sensations when nothing is there to cause them. Hearing voices is a common hallucination, and what those voices say can range from friendly to menacing and accusatory. |
| Changed Behaviours and Feelings | The person may display marked changes in their behaviours and feelings. This can include being withdrawn, restless, agitated, unusually elated or unusually depressed. These changes might not have an apparent cause. |
Elaborating on the Feelings
- Disconnection: A common thread is a sense of disconnect from oneself and the world. The environment may feel strange, distorted, or unreal.
- Fear and Anxiety: Given the unusual nature of the experiences, intense fear and anxiety are common. Individuals can feel like they are in danger or that the world is threatening.
- Paranoia: Often, the experience is accompanied by paranoia and the feeling of being watched or targeted. This can be extremely unsettling and isolating.
- Isolation: Due to the nature of the experience and the changes in behaviour and feelings, isolation from family, friends and society is common. This isolation can exacerbate the symptoms.
- Emotional Volatility: Emotions can fluctuate rapidly and intensely, making it challenging to maintain a stable emotional state. This can mean very intense sadness, or very intense happiness.
- Loss of Control: A prevalent aspect is feeling like one has lost control of one's own thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
Example Scenarios
Here are some practical ways the symptoms might manifest, combining the various subjective experiences:
- Someone might believe they are being spied on (delusion), hear voices telling them to stay inside (hallucination), and become very anxious and withdrawn (changed behaviors and feelings).
- A person could have thoughts that race so quickly they can’t follow them, and it makes it difficult to communicate (confused thinking), while they also believe they have a special purpose in life (delusion).
- An individual might smell a terrible odor that no one else notices (hallucination), believe they are being poisoned, and become deeply paranoid and untrusting of everyone around them (delusion, changed behaviours and feelings).
Conclusion
The experience of psychosis is not uniform and can be described as disorienting and distressing. It involves profound changes in perception, thought, and emotion that can feel isolating and frightening. Understanding these feelings can help in providing better support to those affected by psychosis.
