Psychosis is not a condition, but rather a symptom of an underlying mental health disorder. Individuals who experience psychosis may have a wide range of symptoms that impact the way they view reality.
In this post, we’re going to explain psychosis in more detail and see how it compares to other mental health symptoms. We’ll also look at psychosis and bipolar disorder, as the two are often lumped together. Are they the same thing? If not, how do they differ? All of this information can be found below.
What Is Psychosis?
Psychosis is often referred to as a psychotic break or psychotic episode. In simple terms, if you experience psychosis, you see reality in a completely different way from everyone else. You may hallucinate or believe things exist when they do not. This can last for a few moments as a short psychotic break, or it can happen regularly throughout the day.
Main Symptoms of Psychotic Breaks
If you are undergoing a psychotic break, you’ll likely see some or all of the following symptoms:
- Vivid hallucinations
- A sense of delusion
- Impulsive behavior with no real direction to it
- Negative emotions
- A frozen appearance (catatonia)
- Inability to communicate with others
- Paranoid feelings
- Difficulty concentrating or making sense of what’s around you
A Psychotic Break vs. A Manic Episode
Psychosis—or a psychotic break—is often confused with a manic episode. Both are underlying symptoms of other mental health disorders, but there’s a substantial difference between the two.
As mentioned above, psychosis is a state of delusion where the world around you transforms and seems different. You can hallucinate and see things that aren’t there, disrupting your ability to process what people are saying to you. In many ways, the best way to describe the feeling is that you’re in your own little world.
By comparison, a manic episode has many different feelings, and is characterized by the following:
- Exaggerated confidence in everything you do
- More energy than normal
- An inability to sleep or concentrate
- Thoughts that jump from one thing to the next
- Fast speech that’s hard for people to understand and sounds different from usual
- An increase in recklessness
- Either a highly elevated mood or an irritable one, sometimes switching between both
Here’s where the difference comes in; psychosis can exist as a symptom of a manic episode as well. You may experience all of the above, plus hallucinations and feelings of delusion. Individuals may also experience psychosis when suffering from other mental health concerns such as depressive moods. However, manic episodes are not a symptom of psychosis. One can cause the other, but not the other way around.
Interestingly, both of these conditions/symptoms are mentioned when people talk about bipolar disorder. This is a common mental health disorder, and manic episodes are one of the biggest symptoms, particularly when coupled with depressive episodes. People living with bipolar disorder can go through periods of feeling hyper-alert and manic, but then also times when they’re mellowed out and depressed. So, where is the link between bipolar disorder and psychosis?
Is Bipolar Disorder on the Psychotic Spectrum?
Firstly, what is the psychotic spectrum?
To explain it as simply as possible, the psychotic spectrum is a range of mental health disorders with underlying psychotic symptoms. This can involve hallucinations, delusions, or any other symptoms signaling the individual is experiencing a break from reality.
Is bipolar disorder on this spectrum?
No, it isn’t.
Rather, bipolar disorder is classified as a mood disorder. Other mood disorders include Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). These orders involve changes in a person’s emotional state of mind or mood. Bipolar disorder is classified as such because the main symptoms are huge shifts in a person’s mood. As touched upon above, you can go from periods of depression to extreme manic episodes. These symptoms have more of an impact on your emotional state than your ability to perceive reality.
What Is the Difference Between a Psychotic Disorder and Bipolar Disorder?
Many people are confused when they learn that bipolar disorder isn’t on the psychotic spectrum. Indeed, you may be scratching your head after we discussed that psychosis can be a symptom of manic episodes. If manic episodes are a main symptom of bipolar disorder, doesn’t it mean this mental health disorder has psychotic symptoms?
Yes, but the main difference between a psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder is that psychosis is a primary symptom of psychotic disorders. The disorder itself is causing a state of psychosis where you’re experiencing hallucinations or losing touch with reality.
Bipolar disorder’s primary symptoms revolve around your mood or emotional state. Many people with this mental health disorder will not experience psychosis at all. Those who do will experience it as a symptom of either manic or depressive episodes, so it’s more of a secondary symptom.
How Do You Treat Psychosis?
If you experience psychotic breaks, you should undergo the right treatment to stop your hallucinations or delusions from happening again. Of course, treating this depends on what’s causing it. There are different types of psychosis that could indicate a specific mental health problem, or something else.
If you experience hallucinations, you should seek medical attention right away. At Alvarado Parkway Institute, we can treat many versions of psychosis, including substance-induced psychotic disorder. This is when you abuse substances that cause hallucinations and periods of delusion. If you stop taking these substances, you may still experience psychosis as your body’s way of reacting to not taking them.
Of course, we can also help with psychosis as a symptom of bipolar or other mental health conditions like schizophrenia.
If you need help with anything, please don’t hesitate to call our 24-hour hotline at 619-333-7050. We’ll listen to your concerns and provide guidance on the next steps. Feel free to give us a call or contact us via our website if you’re interested in help with psychosis, psychotic disorders, or bipolar disorder. We are always more than happy to assist you on your path to recovery.
