You can speak to your GP about your concerns. They will be able to talk to you about treatment options and coping strategies. But you should listen to them. Make sure that you understand the pros and cons of your treatment options before you make a decision.
Your GP should refer you to a secondary mental health team if this is the first time that you have experienced psychosis and asked for help. You should be assessed quickly. A secondary mental health team will usually be called the:. You or your carer should be able to make a self-referral to a secondary mental health team if this is the first time that you have experienced psychosis. To find your local secondary mental health team you can try the following. A care coordinator will have regular contact with you.
And they will manage your care plan to make sure that you get the help that you need. This can include both treatment and social care needs. Support for physical health You are at a higher risk of physical health issues if you have a mental illness. Your risks can include being overweight, having coronary heart disease or diabetes.
Because of the increased risk you should have regular physical health checks. Such as a full health check including weight, blood pressure and other blood tests when you start antipsychotic medication. Your local authority is responsible for your social care and support. The social services team are part of the local authority. If you need help and support to look after yourself then you can have an assessment by social services.
For example, you may need support so that you can:. Charities In some areas, charities will support people who experience psychosis. This may be through support groups where you can talk to other people who have experience of psychosis.
Or there may be a different service available for you, such as employment or isolation support. You can look on our website to see if we have any support groups or services in your area.
If you would like us to look for you please contact our advice line on and let us know what sort of support you are looking for. There are things that you can do to help manage your mental health. You can find more information about:. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence NICE recommend that you should be offered antipsychotic medication and talking therapy if you experience psychosis.
If you decide not to take medication you should still be offered talking therapy. NICE produce guidelines for how health professionals should treat certain conditions. You can download these from their website at www. Antipsychotic medication can help with psychosis. Your doctor should give you information about antipsychotics including side effects. You and your doctor should choose the medication together. Some people find that they do not start to recover until they get the right medication.
It is important to take the medication every day to help your symptoms. There are lots of different antipsychotics to try because people respond to different medications. Some may not improve your symptoms and cause side effects. You should discuss your medication with your doctor if your medication is not working.
Or you are finding the side effects hard to deal with. There might be another medication that will suit you better. Doctors should check that your medication is working.
They should also give you a physical health check 12 weeks after the start of medication and then at least once a year. Some antipsychotic medication can make you put on a lot of weight. So, your weight should be monitored each week for the first 6 weeks. Cognitive behavioural therapy CBT CBT can help you understand your experiences and any upsetting and worrying thoughts and beliefs. You can discuss new ways of thinking about them and dealing with them.
What is CBT? CBT is a talking treatment. It is there to try and help you to:. Family intervention Family intervention is where you and your family work with mental health professionals to help you to manage your relationships.
This should be offered to people who you live with or who you are in close contact with. The support that you and your family are given will depend on what problems there are and what preferences you all have. This could be group family sessions or individual sessions. Your family should get support for 3 months to 1 year and should have at least 10 planned sessions.
Art therapy Art therapy may be more useful if you have depressive symptoms, such as withdrawing from people or losing interest in things that you used to enjoy. You will have arts therapy with a therapist. It will usually be in a group. It is there to mix different communication techniques with creativity.
Art therapy aims to help you to:. Therapy for trauma If you have experienced trauma, your psychosis may be part of your way of dealing with this. This is something which can be treated with counselling or psychotherapy.
The therapist will help you to understand the root causes of your hallucinations or delusions. They will explore ways to over-come and control difficult voices and beliefs. The NHS do not usually offer counselling or psychotherapy to people who are experiencing psychosis. But they should listen to you if you ask for it.
Especially if other therapies like CBT, family intervention and arts therapies, are not available locally. You should first speak to your doctor about your treatment. Explain why you are not happy with it.
You could ask what other treatments you could try. Tell your doctor if there is a type of treatment that you would like to try. Doctors should listen to your preference. If you are not given this treatment, ask your doctor to explain why it is not suitable for you. A second opinion means that you would like a different doctor to give their opinion about what treatment you should have. You can also ask for a second opinion if you disagree with your diagnosis.
But your doctor should listen to your reason for wanting a second opinion. An advocate is independent from the mental health service. They are free to use. They can be useful if you find it difficult to get your views heard. There are different types of advocates available. Community advocates can support you to get a health professional to listen to your concerns. And help you to get the treatment that you would like.
You can search online to search for a local advocacy service. We will look for you. Your concerns investigated in more detail. This is where your concerns are investigated in further detail. You can ask an advocate to help you make a complaint. Advocates that do this are called Independent Health Complaints Advocates. People deal with their experience in different ways. You might need to try different things before finding something that works.
You could join a support group. A support group is where people come together to share information, experiences and give each other support. Hearing about the experiences of others can help you feel understood.
This may help you feel less alone and boost your self-confidence. You might be able to find a local group by searching online. The charity Hearing Voices Network have face to face support groups in some areas of the country. Rethink Mental Illness have support groups in some areas. You can find out what is available in your area, or get help to set up your own support group by clicking here.
Recovery colleges are part of the NHS. They offer free courses about mental health to help you manage your experiences. They can help you to take control of your life and become an expert in your own wellbeing and recovery. You can usually self-refer to a recovery college.
But the college may tell your care team. Unfortunately, recovery colleges are not available in all areas. To see if there is a recovery college in your area you can use a search engine such as Google. Or you can call our advice service on for more information. Your doctor may offer you peer support. Peer support is when you work with someone who has lived experience of psychosis.
And who are now in recovery. They should be able to offer advice and support with:. Managing your condition on your own is called self-help. Health professionals may offer you help to manage your condition on your own.
They may call this a self-management programme. Delusions of grandeur involve a strong belief that the person has a special power or authority. For instance, they may believe that they are a political leader. Anyone who is experiencing psychosis should receive urgent medical attention. Treatment can provide both short- and long-term help.
Early treatment can improve long-term outcomes, but it can take time for healthcare professionals to provide an accurate diagnosis. Psychiatrists recommend considering the possibility of a psychotic disorder in a young person if they show signs of:.
There is no biological test for psychosis, but laboratory tests can rule out other medical problems that might explain the symptoms. To diagnose psychosis, a doctor will carry out a clinical examination and ask various questions. They may also do tests to rule out other factors, including :.
A lack of sleep may also trigger psychosis. Antipsychotic drugs are the main form of treatment for people with a psychotic illness. Antipsychotics can reduce psychosis symptoms in people with psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia. However, they do not treat or cure the underlying condition. A person can only use these drugs under supervision from a doctor, as they can have adverse effects.
The doctor will also treat any underlying conditions responsible for the psychosis. Where possible, family support can also help. The person may need to stay in the hospital. Sometimes, a doctor will prescribe rapid tranquilization. They give the person a fast acting medication that relaxes them to ensure that they do not harm themselves or others. The person does not stay in the hospital but uses antipsychotic drugs to help prevent further episodes. People who are experiencing psychosis may have either hallucinations or delusions.
Hallucinations are sensory experiences that occur within the absence of an actual stimulus. The person experiencing psychosis may also have thoughts that are contrary to actual evidence. These thoughts are known as delusions. Some people with psychosis may also experience loss of motivation and social withdrawal. These experiences can be frightening.
They may also cause people who are experiencing psychosis to hurt themselves or others. Delusions and hallucinations are two very different symptoms that are both often experienced by people with psychosis. Delusions and hallucinations seem real to the person who is experiencing them.
There are delusions of paranoia , grandiose delusions , and somatic delusions. Someone with a grandiose delusion will have an exaggerated sense of importance.
A hallucination is a sensory perception in the absence of outside stimuli. There are certain illnesses that cause psychosis, however. There are also triggers like drug use, lack of sleep, and other environmental factors. In addition, certain situations can lead to specific types of psychosis developing. Some types of dementia may result in psychosis, such as that caused by:.
However, research has shown that genetics may play a role. People are more likely to develop a psychotic disorder if they have a close family member, such as a parent or sibling, who has a psychotic disorder.
Children born with the genetic mutation known as 22q Some kinds of psychosis are brought on by specific conditions or circumstances that include the following:. Brief psychotic disorder, sometimes called brief reactive psychosis, can occur during periods of extreme personal stress like the death of a family member. Someone experiencing brief reactive psychosis will generally recover in a few days to a few weeks, depending on the source of the stress.
Psychosis can be triggered by the use of alcohol or drugs, including stimulants such as methamphetamine and cocaine. In the U. As many as 3 in people will have an episode at some point in their lives. Early or first-episode psychosis FEP refers to when a person first shows signs of beginning to lose contact with reality. What is Early and First-Episode Psychosis? Early psychosis or FEP rarely comes suddenly.
Usually, a person has gradual, non-specific changes in thoughts and perceptions, but doesn't understand what's going on.
Early warning signs can be difficult to distinguish from typical teen or young adult behavior. While such signs should not be cause for alarm, they may indicate the need to get an assessment from a doctor. Encouraging people to seek help for early psychosis is important.
Families are often the first to see early signs of psychosis and the first to address the issue of seeking treatment. However, a person's willingness to accept help is often complicated by delusions, fears, stigma and feeling unsettled.
In this case, families can find the situation extremely difficult, but there are engagement strategies to help encourage a person to seek help.
It's important to get help quickly since early treatment provides the best hope of recovery by slowing, stopping and possibly reversing the effects of psychosis. Early warning signs include the following:.
Determining exactly when the first episode of psychosis begins can be hard, but these signs and symptoms strongly indicate an episode of psychosis:. A mental health professional performing a psychological evaluation can determine if a mental health condition is involved and discuss next steps. If the psychosis is a symptom of a mental health condition, early action helps to keep lives on track.
0コメント