What is Psychosis?

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael T Compton ◽  
Beth Broussard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Basic Question ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Difficult Time ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Patients Experience

We began the Preface with a list of questions that people experiencing psychosis and their family members often have. As we mentioned, an episode of psychosis can be frightening, confusing, and painful for the individual going through it and for his or her family members. We also noted that this book is meant to help readers through a very difficult time by providing much needed information. Part 1 of this book, Answering Your Basic Questions, focuses on explaining some of the most important facts about psychosis. This chapter addresses the first basic question, what is psychosis? In this chapter, we define what psychosis is and then dispel some myths by describing what psychosis is not. We then briefly describe what percentage of people develop psychosis and when it usually first begins. Next, we present the idea of a “psychosis continuum,” which means that experiences of psychosis can differ in level of seriousness. We then set the stage for later chapters by briefly introducing schizophrenia (one of the illnesses that is related to psychosis) and several other topics to come later in the book, including causes of psychosis, treatments, and recovery. Psychosis is a form of mental illness. A mental illness affects a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Like physical illnesses, mental illnesses are treatable. Psychosis is a treatable mental illness syndrome. You may be familiar with some other mental illness syndromes, such as depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic attacks. So what exactly does psychosis mean? Psychosis is a word used to describe a person’s mental state when he or she is out of touch with reality. For example, a person might hear voices that are not really there (auditory hallucinations) or believe things that are not really true (delusions). Psychosis is a medical condition that occurs due to a dysfunction in the brain. People with psychosis have difficulty separating false personal experiences from reality. They may behave in a bizarre or risky manner without realizing that they are doing anything unusual. Similar to any other health condition, psychosis consists of a combination of both symptoms that patients experience and signs that doctors observe.

scholarly journals Exploring the stigma related experiences of family members of persons with mental illness in a selected community in the iLembe district, KwaZulu-Natal

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celenkosini T. Nxumalo ◽  
Gugu G. Mchunu
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Related Stigma ◽  
The Individual

Background: Stigma in mental illness is a serious social problem which has a multitude of consequences on the individual concerned, as well as his or her family. Research has shown that families of persons living with mental illnesses are often subjected to stigma by virtue of their association with such a person. The stigma of families is seen in the form of assignment of blame, social isolation and rejection. This stigma subsequently perpetuates a cycle of disability on the part of the patient and family.Purpose: To explore the stigma related experiences of family members of persons with mental illness in a selected community in the iLembe district of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in order to develop recommendations to help families cope with such stigma.Methods: This was a descriptive qualitative study; data was collected from a purposive sample of six family members, which resulted in data saturation. Semi-structured interview questions were used during data collection and content analysis using Creswell's (2009) method was done to analyse the data; resulting in the formation of themes and sub-themes which were supported by the participants' responses and existing literature.Results: Participants reported experiencing stigma from the community in the form of isolation, blame and exploitation, community neglect, as well as labelling and stereotyping. The majority of the participants reported using emotion-focused coping mechanisms to deal with the stigma they faced. Participants suggested that education of communities regarding the myths and facts about mental illness may help to curb the stigma faced by the family members of persons with mental illness.Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it was recommended that a combination of coping strategies, together with the integration of public and private sector support, be used to holistically deal with family related stigma. It was found that ground level education and support to families is the key to curbing family related stigma of mental illness, local NGO's and the clinics would be instrumental in this area.

What Is Psychosis?

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Beth Broussard ◽  
Michael T. Compton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Young People ◽  
First Episode Psychosis ◽  
Initial Evaluation ◽  
Treatment Programs ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Episode Psychosis ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Work Goals

This first chapter explains what psychosis is. Psychosis is a treatable mental illness. For many people with first-episode psychosis, symptoms begin to clear up partially or completely within weeks of starting treatment. Although the symptoms of psychosis may be frightening to the individual and his or her family, there are treatments for these symptoms. First-episode psychosis is the period of time when a person first begins to experience psychosis. It is during this time that young people and their families need detailed information about the initial evaluation and treatment. People who get into treatment earlier often do better. In many places, specialty treatment programs now exist that specifically focus on first-episode psychosis. Those programs often provide treatments designed to help young people get back on track in terms of school and work goals.

“Dangerous relationships”: Family dynamics among members with severe mental illness. about a case

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S687-S687
Author(s):  
G. Hernande. Santillan ◽  
E. Martin Ballesteros
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Severe Mental Illness ◽  
Family Of Origin ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Delusional Disorder ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Long Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
To Come

A 51-year-old woman from a Mediterranean location with a history of a brother diagnosed with schizophrenia, moved thirty years ago, away from her family of origin, when marrying a man suffering from severe untreated OCD, who in turn, has two brothers, both with OCD, and a nephew with OCD. She says that her husband is very unsociable, spends most of the day at work and comes home at night to clean for a long time until he does not see lint on the floor or a crumb on the table literally. They have a fifteen-year-old son, with needy materials, very attached to the mother and very little to the father. The patient consults, motivated by a former sister-in-law and a friend, because they have noticed deterioration in their self-care and tendency to isolation, which the patient explains because in the last year she has noticed exacerbation of the comments by her neighbours and even unknown people that tell her “look how dirty, your husband has to come after work to clean your house, and makes noise.” The companions are also concerned that the child has had school and social problems and admits hearing the same as his mother. Now, What possible diagnoses do we propose in this patient: Folie a deux, delusional disorder, paraphrenia, other? (Figure 1)Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Family accommodation in hoarding

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Vorstenbosch
Keyword(s):  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Interpersonal Processes ◽  
Family Accommodation ◽  
The Individual

Hoarding, which includes the excessive acquisition of, and inability to discard, numerous possessions, is a debilitating mental health condition and is associated with significant family dysfunction and burden on family members. Currently, little is known about the effect that family members have on individuals‟ hoarding symptomatology and functioning, and vice versa. Thus, the present study examined the nature and frequency of family accommodation (i.e., the process by which family members participate in hoarding symptoms or modify personal and family routines in response to an individual‟s symptoms; Calvocoressi, Mazure, Stanislav, et al., 1999), in 52 individuals with self-reported hoarding problems and their close significant others (CSOs; i.e., intimate partner or family member). Participants completed the Family Accommodation Interview for Hoarding (FAI-H), which is an 11-item clinician-rated interview that was adapted from a previously validated measure for this study, and a series of self-report questionnaires. The FAI-H was found to be a valid and reliable assessment of accommodation in this hoarding sample. Most CSOs reported engaging in at least some accommodating behaviours; however, CSOs who lived with the individual with the hoarding problem engaged in accommodating behaviours more frequently than those who did not live with the individual with the hoarding problem. More than half of the CSOs endorsed hoarding participant-driven, as well as personally-driven motivations for engaging in accommodating behaviours, and believed that their accommodating behaviours were reasonable or helpful for both the individual with the hoarding problem and themselves. Family accommodation was positively associated with hoarding symptom severity, relationship conflict, CSOs‟ rejecting attitudes toward the individual with hoarding problems, relationship problems, impairment in activities of daily living, and hoarding participant-rated anger. Family accommodation partially mediated the association between hoarding symptom severity and relationship conflict, averaging across hoarding participants and CSOs, and between hoarding symptom severity and impairment in activities of daily living for individuals with hoarding problems, but not CSOs. Results of the present study further elucidate the role of accommodation in hoarding, and increase our understanding of the interpersonal processes that may play an important role in problematic hoarding.

scholarly journals Embarrassment when illness strikes a close relative: a World Mental Health Survey Consortium Multi-Site Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 2191-2202 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. K. Ahmedani ◽  
S. P. Kubiak ◽  
R. C. Kessler ◽  
R. de Graaf ◽  
J. Alonso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Medical Condition ◽  
Conditional Logistic Regression ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Close Relative ◽  
Conditional Logistic Regression Model ◽  
General Medical Condition ◽  
World Mental Health

BackgroundIn this global study we sought to estimate the degree to which a family member might feel embarrassed when a close relative is suffering from an alcohol, drug, or mental health condition (ADMC) versus a general medical condition (GMC). To date, most studies have considered embarrassment and stigma in society and internalized by the afflicted individual but have not assessed family embarrassment in a large-scale study.MethodIn 16 sites of the World Mental Health Surveys (WMHS), standardized assessments were completed including items on family embarrassment. Site matching was used to constrain local socially shared determinants of stigma-related feelings, enabling a conditional logistic regression model that estimates the embarrassment close relatives may hold in relation to family members affected by an ADMC, a GMC, or both conditions.ResultsThere was a statistically robust association such that subgroups with an ADMC-affected relative were more likely to feel embarrassed compared to subgroups with a relative affected by a GMC (p < 0.001), even with covariate adjustments for age and sex.ConclusionsThe pattern of evidence from this research is consistent with conceptual models for interventions that target individual- and family-level stigma-related feelings of embarrassment as possible obstacles to effective early intervention and treatment for an ADMC. Macro-level interventions are under way but micro-level interventions may also be required among family members, along with care for each person with an ADMC.

scholarly journals Family accommodation in hoarding

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Vorstenbosch
Keyword(s):  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Relationship Conflict ◽  
Interpersonal Processes ◽  
Family Accommodation ◽  
The Individual

Hoarding, which includes the excessive acquisition of, and inability to discard, numerous possessions, is a debilitating mental health condition and is associated with significant family dysfunction and burden on family members. Currently, little is known about the effect that family members have on individuals‟ hoarding symptomatology and functioning, and vice versa. Thus, the present study examined the nature and frequency of family accommodation (i.e., the process by which family members participate in hoarding symptoms or modify personal and family routines in response to an individual‟s symptoms; Calvocoressi, Mazure, Stanislav, et al., 1999), in 52 individuals with self-reported hoarding problems and their close significant others (CSOs; i.e., intimate partner or family member). Participants completed the Family Accommodation Interview for Hoarding (FAI-H), which is an 11-item clinician-rated interview that was adapted from a previously validated measure for this study, and a series of self-report questionnaires. The FAI-H was found to be a valid and reliable assessment of accommodation in this hoarding sample. Most CSOs reported engaging in at least some accommodating behaviours; however, CSOs who lived with the individual with the hoarding problem engaged in accommodating behaviours more frequently than those who did not live with the individual with the hoarding problem. More than half of the CSOs endorsed hoarding participant-driven, as well as personally-driven motivations for engaging in accommodating behaviours, and believed that their accommodating behaviours were reasonable or helpful for both the individual with the hoarding problem and themselves. Family accommodation was positively associated with hoarding symptom severity, relationship conflict, CSOs‟ rejecting attitudes toward the individual with hoarding problems, relationship problems, impairment in activities of daily living, and hoarding participant-rated anger. Family accommodation partially mediated the association between hoarding symptom severity and relationship conflict, averaging across hoarding participants and CSOs, and between hoarding symptom severity and impairment in activities of daily living for individuals with hoarding problems, but not CSOs. Results of the present study further elucidate the role of accommodation in hoarding, and increase our understanding of the interpersonal processes that may play an important role in problematic hoarding.

Construction of citizenship in hospitalized children, Peru

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Fernando Ledesma Perez ◽  
Maria Caycho Avalos ◽  
Juana Cruz Montero ◽  
Andrea Ayala Sandoval
Keyword(s):  
Structured Interview ◽  
Health Condition ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Hospitalized Children ◽  
Health Institute ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Communication Interaction ◽  
The Individual

Citizenship is the exercise of the fundamental rights of people in spaces of participation, opinion and commitments, which can not be violated by any health condition in which the individual is. This research aims to interpret the process of construction of citizenship in hospitalized children, was developed through the qualitative approach, ethnomethodological method, synchronous design, with a sample of three students hospitalized in a health institute specializing in childhood, was used Observation technique and a semi-structured interview guide were obtained as results that hospitalized children carry out their citizenship construction in an incipient way, through the communication interaction they make with other people in the environment where they grow up.

A Moment to Come Together: Personal Reflections on Trayvon Martin

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-137
Author(s):  
Roxanne Christensen ◽  
LaSonia Barlow ◽  
Demetrius E. Ford
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Professional Psychology ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come ◽  
Professional Responses ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Personal Reflections ◽  
Unique Individual

Three personal reflections provided by doctoral students of the Michigan School of Professional Psychology (Farmington Hills, Michigan) address identification of individual perspectives on the tragic events surrounding Trayvon Martin’s death. The historical ramifications of a culture-in-context and the way civil rights, racism, and community traumatization play a role in the social construction of criminals are explored. A justice orientation is applied to both the community and the individual via internal reflection about the unique individual and collective roles social justice plays in the outcome of these events. Finally, the personal and professional responses of a practitioner who is also a mother of minority young men brings to light the need to educate against stereotypes, assist a community to heal, and simultaneously manage the direct effects of such events on youth in society. In all three essays, common themes of community and growth are addressed from varying viewpoints. As worlds collided, a historical division has given rise to a present unity geared toward breaking the cycle of violence and trauma. The authors plead that if there is no other service in the name of this tragedy, let it at least contribute to the actualization of a society toward growth and healing.

Lived Experiences of Young People who Live with Mental Healthcare Users in Limpopo, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamakota Maggie Molepo ◽  
Faniswa Honest Mfidi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Young People ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Support Systems ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Burden Sharing

Mental illness is more than just the diagnosis to an individual – it also has an impact on the social functioning of the family at large. When a parent or relative has a mental illness, all other family members are affected, even the children. The purpose of the study was to provide insight into the lived experiences of young people who live with mental healthcare users and the way in which their daily coping can be maximised. A qualitative, descriptive, phenomenological research was undertaken to explore and describe the lived experiences of young people who live with mental healthcare users in the Limpopo province, South Africa. Audiotaped, unstructured in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 young people who grew up and lived with a family member who is a mental healthcare user in their homes, until data saturation was reached. A content analysis was used to derive themes from the collected qualitative data. Four major themes emerged as features reflective of the young people’s daily living with mental healthcare user, namely psychological effects, added responsibilities, effects on school performances, and support systems. This study recommends that support networks for young people be established through multidisciplinary team involvement and collaboration and the provision of burden-sharing or a relief system during times of need. With the availability of healthy coping mechanisms and support systems, the daily living situations and coping of young people could be maximised, thereby improving their quality of life while living with their family members with mental illness.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document