Psychosis: Brief Reactive Psychosis

[credit]

The Curious Case of Brief Reactive Psychosis

Psychosis, as you should know by now (otherwise this blog has completely failed in achieving its goals!) is defined as someone having lost “touch with reality” and whose thoughts, feelings and behaviours can become bizarrely altered. (1)

In other words, it has the potential to define that person as a human being, which significantly contributes to the stigma and negative connotations associated with it. (2)

Psychosis isn’t a condition strictly speaking, but rather occurs as a result of other conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or substance-induced psychosis (under the influence of alcohol or mind-altering drugs); all of which the majority of us will have heard of or encountered at some stage in our lives. (1)

But I wonder how many of you out there have heard of the term “Brief Reactive Psychosis?”....

No? ….Me neither, until I began to do a bit of research on the topic and discovered that a lot of us may end up experiencing the condition unknowingly!

This brings us to the glaringly obvious question….

What is Brief Reactive Psychosis?

Brief Reactive Psychosis falls under the category of a “Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder”; (5) which in layman’s terms can be thought of as a “time-limited” psychosis in which the symptoms can last anywhere from between 1 day up to 1 month, with an eventual full recovery to one’s previous mental state in most cases. (3) It is not able to be explained by a depressive/bipolar disorder with psychotic features, a different psychotic disorder (schizophrenia) or the result of adverse effects from medications/illicit substances/alcohol. (3) (4)

Specifically, it occurs as a result of a major stress or trauma in one’s life. (6)

Common examples include:

Ø   the death of a loved one,

Ø   going through a major accident or physical assault,

Ø  significant disruption to one’s family life (e.g. divorce),

Ø  childbirth or

Ø  extreme stress or exhaustion.  (6)

We will all inevitably have to cope with the experience of losing a close relative or friend, such is the way of life, and from a personal experience, it was an incredibly difficult time in my life. I can only imagine how harrowing the ordeal becomes when one begins to experience psychotic symptoms on top of this grief.

Isn’t it now obvious to see the need to increase the awareness of this condition, so people are able to recognise that they’re suffering from this condition and be able to seek assistance and not have to suffer in silence like in days gone by? (7)

By getting people talking about psychosis (one of the principal missions of this blog) and recognising that it can happen to anybody, we can eliminate the stigma and

prejudices in our society that discourage people from publically acknowledging that they are suffering from psychosis and being able to see #HELP.

How does it present?

A Brief Reactive Psychotic episode displays all the usual symptoms associated with a typical psychotic episode.

These include:

Ø  delusions, (classically involving rapidly changing topics)

Ø  hallucinations,

Ø  disorganised speech,

Ø  significantly disorganised behavioural patterns. (e.g. mutism, agitation for an unknown reason, grimacing, bizarre posturing, rapid intense mood swings, remaining motionless for prolonged periods etc.) (3) (4) (5) (6)

What can be done?

GOOD NEWS!!

Because any symptoms experienced are generally temporary, so is the treatment. (5) The principal goal of any therapy (medical or psychological) is to prevent any potential self-harm or harm to others; hence the need to be temporarily admitted to hospital for evaluation and assessment. (4) (6)

This may seem like an over-reaction, but the statistics unfortunately don’t lie. 20 percent of those diagnosed with psychosis will attempt to commit suicide, and 4 percent will ultimately succeed. (8) As a result, patients need to be monitored closely to ensure that they don’t become another statistic.

Anti-psychotics (Haloperidol) can be used to help alleviate any temporary psychotic symptoms and psychotherapy is commonly used to help each individual understand what caused the situation, develop coping strategies to get through the current and future situations, improve self-esteem and how to prevent similar situations from reoccurring. (9)

What does the future hold?

Thankfully, recurrences of the psychotic symptoms are rare and in the majority of cases, people will experience a full recovery. (6) However, it can make  people more prone to developing a long-term psychotic mental condition such as schizophrenia. (5)

People suffering from the condition will also experience similar complications associated with chronic psychotic disorders (schizophrenia, bipolar etc.) which can range from permanently disrupting one’s personal and family life, to an increased risk of performing violent acts and suicide; (10) clearly demonstrating the benefits of psychotherapy.

It’s easy to see the need to increase the awareness of this condition and other related psychotic conditions, so they can be noticed earlier, and people can get the #HELP they need quickly and easily before they cause permanent harm to themselves or others.

Where to get help? What services? 
For more information on where to get help and what services are there for you, you can click here.

How to help someone else?

For more information on how to help someone else, you can click here.

References:

(1) HSE. “Psychosis” [Internet]. Dublin: Health Service Executive; 2013 [cited 2015 March 15.] Available from: http://www.hse.ie/eng/health/az/P/Psychosis/Treating-psychosis.html.

(2) Seechange. “The Effect of Stigma” [Internet]. Dublin: Seechange; 2013 [updated 2013 July 29; cited 2015 March 15]. Available from: http://www.seechange.ie/the-effect-of-stigma/.

(3) Psych Central. “Brief Psychotic Disorder Symptoms.” [Internet]. 2014;[updated 2014 April 2; cited 2015 March 15]. Available from: http://psychcentral.com/disorders/brief-psychotic-disorder-symptoms/.

(4) Mental Health. “Brief Psychotic Disorder.” [Internet]. 2015; [cited 2015 March 15]. Available from: http://www.mentalhealth.com/home/dx/briefpsychotic.html.

(5) Medicine Net. “Brief Psychotic Disorder.” [Internet]. 2015; [updated 2015 January 26; cited 2015 March 15]. Available from:  http://www.medicinenet.com/brief_psychotic_disorder/article.htm.

(6) WebMD. “Understanding Brief Psychotic Disorder: Schizophrenia and Brief Psychotic Disorder.” [Internet]. 2015; [cited 2015 March 15.] Available from: http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/mental-health-brief-psychotic-disorder?page=1.

(7) Psychology Today. “10 Reasons why you should not suffer in Silence.” [Internet]. 2013; [updated 2013 August 19; cited 2015 March 15.] Available from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/isnt-what-i-expected/201308/10-reasons-why-you-should-not-suffer-in-silence-0.

(8) NHS Choices. “Psychosis.” [Internet]. 2014; [updated 2014 July 31; cited 2015 March 15.] Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Psychosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx.

(9) WebMD. “Types of Psychotherapy for Mental Illnesses: Mental Health and Psychotherapy.” [Internet.] 2015; [cited 2015 March 15.] Available from: http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/mental-health-psychotherapy.

(10) Medline Plus. “Brief Psychotic Disorder.” [Internet]. 2015; [updated 2015 March 2; cited 2015 March 15.] Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001529.htm.