Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Understanding psychotic breaks

#1
Magical Realist Offline
https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/Mar...tic-Breaks

"When you hear the phrase “psychotic break,” what comes to mind? Probably nothing good. In everyday conversation, the phrase carries a negative meaning for many because it’s perceived as a harsh and abrupt disconnect or “break” from reality—though it is more accurately described as an episode of psychosis.

Carlos Larrauri, for example, describes his experience with psychosis as more of a gradual decline, as opposed to a “break” occurring during a single event. His behavior deteriorated for a year, though he recalls warning signs as early as two to three years prior. He was in his first year of college when he noticed changes in his mental health: “I couldn’t do routine assignments,” Larrauri noted. “I stayed up all night talking to myself and had trouble concentrating.” His behavior worsened as he isolated himself, stopped showering, ate out of trashcans and picked cigarettes up off the floor.

Rather than seeing psychosis as something that out-of-the-blue one day “breaks” or “snaps,” it’s important to realize that possible warning signs can occur along a continuum of time. The problem is, people often don’t recognize psychosis until an individual reaches a point of crisis.

So, What Should I Look For?

“Psychosis can look different for many people,” says Chantel Garrett, founding director of Partners for StrongMinds (P4SM). “[But] early in the development of psychosis, a person tends to withdraw from their family and social networks.” Garrett notes other early signs can include:

Difficulty sleeping
Difficulty reading or comprehending what someone is saying
Seeing shadows or flashes of light
Hearing ringing or voices
Smelling or tasting things that others can’t

There are additional early warning signs to look out for, especially among adolescents. In the U.S., 100,000 young people experience psychosis each year. Psychosis is a symptom and therefore temporary; however, if not treated early, it may develop into more intense experiences, including hallucinations and delusions. Psychosis can also be a sign of a mental health condition, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

What Causes Psychosis?

Many factors can lead to psychosis, including genetics, trauma, substance use, physical illness, injury or mental health conditions. However, we are still discovering why and how psychosis develops. “What we do know is that during an episode of psychosis, the brain is basically in a state of stress overload,” says Garrett.

Stress can be caused by anything, including poor physical health, loss, trauma or other major life changes. When stress becomes frequent, it can affect your body, both physically and mentally. “When a brain can no longer effectively process a certain level of stress, the processing of information and emotions is impacted, resulting in trouble perceiving reality,” explains Garrett.

Thus, it is very important to listen to our bodies so we can properly manage our stress. However, even with properly managing stress, some people will still experience psychosis.

How Can I Support Someone Who May Be Experiencing Psychosis?

Being supportive and persistent in helping a loved one find the right treatment can make a world of difference for someone experiencing psychosis. Larrauri explains his journey to recovery was largely due to his friends, family and academic community. In college, a trusted friend notified his mother that something was “going on” with her son. Soon after, his mother arranged a meeting with him and his thesis advisor. After being reminded by his thesis adviser that he was not required to disclose anything private, Larrauri insisted on full disclosure while away at college.

“With all due respect, I have a Cuban mother. I’ve never had privacy,” Larrauri recalls telling his advisor. He knew his health was at risk. Over the next few years, his family played a key role in his recovery. Larrauri’s mother took him to several doctors until he finally received the correct diagnosis of schizophrenia. His father helped him enroll in classes part-time to encourage structure and develop coping skills. Today, Larrauri is in graduate school pursuing a career as a psychiatric nurse practitioner.

“People have maintained high aspirations for me,” adds Larrauri. “I’ve gone from someone who was seeking help to someone on the NAMI Miami Dade County board of directors. People recognize NAMI as a bridge builder in the community. We need to focus on early intervention,” he says. It’s a game changer for people experiencing early psychosis."
Reply
#2
Syne Offline
Yeah, a schizophrenic being a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Nothing could go wrong there.
Reply
#3
Magical Realist Offline
(Nov 10, 2021 04:28 AM)Syne Wrote: Yeah, a schizophrenic being a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Nothing could go wrong there.

Many schizophrenics can, with the help of medication, remain functioning members of society. Besides, this mental illness might give him an inside view on mental illness and make him a better nurse..
Reply
#4
Syne Offline
Mental illness is contagious, and many, if not most, who enter the psychiatric field are doing so hoping to address their own demons. Adding a schizophrenic to the mix is likely to exacerbate his own and/or patient symptoms. And as usual with your straw men, I never said anything about him not being able to be a functional member of society. The only way having a mental illness could make you better at treating it is if all mental illness is equivalent to alcoholism, gambling, etc., where there's some degree of willing behavior involved. Commiserating is not a valid therapy.
Reply
#5
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:Mental illness is contagious,

Really? How is it transmitted? A virus? And do you have any studies to back this ludicrous claim up?
Reply
#6
Syne Offline
Emotional and social contagion are well-known phenomena, related to mirror neurons, transference, etc.. Prolonged exposure to mental illness is likely to exacerbate any propensity for mental illness, just as a mutual reinforcement through emotional contagion.

Can depression be contagious?

Yes and no. Depression isn’t contagious in the same way the flu is, but moods and emotions can spread. Have you ever watched a friend laugh so hard that you started laughing? Or listened to a co-worker complain for so long that you started feeling negative, too? In this way, moods — and even depressive symptoms — can be contagious.

We’ll explain how it works, what the science says, and what to do if you feel like you’ve “caught” depression from a loved one.
https://www.healthline.com/health/is-dep...contagious


Abstract
Here, we review the research we have conducted on social contagion. We describe the methods we have employed (and the assumptions they have entailed) to examine several datasets with complementary strengths and weaknesses, including the Framingham Heart Study, the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, and other observational and experimental datasets that we and others have collected. We describe the regularities that led us to propose that human social networks may exhibit a ‘three degrees of influence’ property, and we review statistical approaches we have used to characterize interpersonal influence with respect to phenomena as diverse as obesity, smoking, cooperation, and happiness.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3830455/


A group of researchers has found that mental health issues can actually be contagious in the workplace.
They studied 250,000 workers over 12 years.
They found that when a team had a high rate of mental disorders, and someone new came on board, that person was at high risk for those disorders, too.
https://www.wbtv.com/2021/10/12/study-me...workplace/


Not by "a virus." Don't be a complete moron.
Reply
#7
Magical Realist Offline
That's insane. None of that says mental illness is contagious. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, ocd, depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, bulimia, sociopathy, ptsd, etc are rooted in malfunctions of the brain and cannot be picked up from other people. I've studied psychology for many years and nowhere is this bs proposed. I've also been around mentally ill people and never caught their illness from them. There is simply no evidence whatsoever for this. Certain behavior resulting from mental illness may influence others towards the same, but that's true of all behaviors. Imitation is a common habit among humans.
Reply
#8
Syne Offline
Then you can't manage to read simple English. "mental health issues can actually be contagious in the workplace" literally means mental illness can be contagious. The first article I cited literally said depression can spread through social/emotional contagion. I also, repeatedly, said "exacerbate," not cause outright. So either learn to read of quit making up straw men out of nothing. "Chemical imbalance in the brain" is pseudoscience claptrap designed to sell drugs and dupe the gullible, like you. You've repeatedly shown you've learned little to nothing about psychology. You've also repeatedly proven, as you have again here, that you'll just blithely ignore any evidence you don't like. And suffering from mental illness yourself, you're in no position to objectively judge how others around you (even though you admit to being a hermit) affect you. Again, there's a reason I said "prolonged exposure."

Like you trying to justify the supposed benefits of the voices in your head, this is just more of your vested interest in defending your own mental illness. It's the only game you have to play in life.
Reply
#9
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:Then you can't manage to read simple English. "mental health issues can actually be contagious in the workplace" literally means mental illness can be contagious.

Wrong. Mental health issues can be contagious does not mean mental illness can be contagious. Mental health issues have to do with moods, social relationships, beliefs and values, personal habits and behaviors, etc. You don't have to be mentally ill to have these. Everybody has them. And they can influence others. Has nothing whatsoever to do with mental illness.
Reply
#10
confused2 Online
From the WBTV interview:
Interviewer Wrote:A group of researchers has found that mental health issues can actually be contagious in the workplace.
A good clickbait opening.
Interviewer Wrote:They found that when a team had a high rate of mental disorders, and someone new came on board, that person was at high risk for those disorders, too.
More clickbait.

Interviewee Wrote:...If it is something that’s going on with the job, it is very possible that it’s not only them that’s experiencing this, and there might be other employees as well that are experiencing the same thing, and there could be some structural things that just need adjusting to help that individual and help the entire team.
There are certainly toxic employers - Bezos may or may not be one of them - whether employees have mental disorders (as evidenced by working for (say) Amazon) or are just being treated like shit is in the eye of the beholder. In fairness I am aware of an employee generated toxic environment known in the UK as 'Low morale' - basically the group collectively want a pay rise but aren't willing or able to look for a better job so they do a sort of 'go slow'. Any new person entering an area of 'low morale' saying "This is the best job I've ever had." would like as not be stabbed in the back with a blunt biro.


The interview from which I took the quotes in full:
https://www.wbtv.com/2021/10/12/study-me...workplace/
Reply


Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Is the body key to understanding consciousness? C C 1 120 Oct 5, 2022 08:43 PM
Last Post: Magical Realist



Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)