About this topic
Psychosis is an illness where you lose touch with reality. Acute psychosis often happens in a short period of time. It affects your mind. It causes changes to the way you think, feel, and act. People with acute psychosis show signs like: ‚
- Not being able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not. These are delusions.
- Feeling, hearing, or seeing things that are not noticed by other people. These are hallucinations.
- Changes in actions, thinking, and loss of interest in things they enjoy
- Acting in ways that are hard for others to understand
Acute psychosis can be treated. It is important to pay attention to signs and to get help right away. Treatments work better and people get well more often when you get help quickly after having signs of psychosis. Treatments may include drugs and therapy. These things may help ease signs and avoid more problems. Recovery may differ from person to person. Some may recover quickly in a few weeks, months, or more. ‚
What care is needed at home?
For the patient: ‚
- Ask your doctor what you need to do when you go home. Make sure you ask questions if you do not understand what the doctor says. This way you will know what you need to do.
- Talk to family and friends about acute psychosis. Let them know how they can help. They may have concerns about your signs that you may not see. You may have behaviors that cause distress to others. Ask the doctor how family members can respond in a healthy way to these kinds of behaviors.
- Take your drugs or have someone help give you your drugs. Set a routine so that drugs are taken the same time each day.
- Do not stay home alone. You may feel scared or worried. Let family or friends give support and show comfort during this hard time.
- Try to avoid stress and get help from family or friends to lower stress. Use ways to relax like deep breathing, meditation, or by listening to music. Keep a calm and restful setting. Avoid things or places that you know cause you stress.
- You may need help with personal care and hygiene, such as showering, bathing, and washing or changing your clothes. Your family or friends may see that you need this help, often more than you may see this need. Let them remind you to do it on a regular basis.
- If you have signs like shouting, talking loudly, taking off clothes, or speaking harshly in public:
- It is important that you know that these are signs of the illness.
- Try to stay calm and talk in a quiet voice. Teach family and friends not to laugh, act worried, angry, embarrassed, or argue when these things happen.
- Family members should use simple and direct words and try to help you calm down.
- Later, talk about what happened.
For a caregiver: ‚
- Some people seem to have lost interest in life and social contacts. You may be able to help in these ways:
- Talk to your patient and see if your patient would enjoy an activity.
- Be willing to listen and to talk.
- Offer to take your patient outside.
- Take a walk together.
- Provide time for visits with friends or family, if this is helpful.
- Work together on daily tasks at home.
- Do not push your patient to do things your patient does not want to do.
- Make sure that your patients home is safe so that injuries will not happen.
- Ask if your patient is feeling safe. Ask your patient about any thoughts of self-harm.
- Keep beer, wine, and mixed drinks (alcohol), guns, and sharp objects locked in cabinets.
- Keep the bathroom and kitchen safe. Do not leave your patient alone in these areas.
- Ask the doctor when your patient is able to go back to school or work.
- Ask the doctor if it is safe for your patient to drive. Driving is not often safe for your patient. Keep keys in a locked cabinet or out of sight.
What follow-up care is needed?
- Acute psychosis needs close monitoring. Your doctor may ask you to make visits to the office to check on your progress. Be sure to keep these visits.
- There are no lab or x-ray tests to find psychosis. This is diagnosed and treated by the signs and symptoms. It is very important to be honest and tell your doctor about all of your signs. This will help you to get the right care and to help you get better.
- The doctor may send you to a psychotherapist.
- Acute psychosis is often best treated by using a few things together. This includes care from your doctor, psychotherapy specialists, and drugs.
- Keep all visits needed for your treatment.
What drugs may be needed?
The doctor may order drugs to: ‚
- Help lessen anxiety
- Promote calm and clear thoughts
- Decrease or stop signs of low mood
- Help control muscle stiffness or shaking
- Help decrease psychotic signs
- Help control mood changes
Will physical activity be limited?
- Regular activity can help lower stress. Make a plan. Slowly add to activity as you get stronger.
- Do things together with your family and friends. This may help to gain energy and lower restlessness and low mood.
What changes to diet are needed?
- Eat healthy foods. Keep meals simple. Eat a variety of foods that you can eat without having to use utensils, such as sandwiches, cut fruit or vegetables, shakes, or nutrition bars. Making it easier to eat will help you get the nutrients needed.
- Be mindful of your diet and let your family or friends watch over you while eating. Drugs may increase your weight. Sometimes acute psychosis may cause you to eat too little or too much.
- Do not drink beer, wine, and mixed drinks (alcohol). This can cause sleep problems, low mood, and stress. Alcohol can change the effect of drugs ordered by the doctor.
What problems could happen?
- Self injury
- Needs help with care
- Schizophrenia
- Suicidal thoughts or attempts
What can be done to prevent this health problem?
Prevention of psychosis is based on the cause, like avoiding use of alcohol. Psychosis can be caused by certain medical conditions, like depression, neurological disorders, head injury, tumors, infection, or dementia. Some things may be done to help lessen the chance of psychosis because misuse of substances increases psychotic symptoms: ‚
- Avoid alcohol. Alcohol abuse may cause alcohol-induced psychosis.
- Avoid use of illegal drugs.
- Ask your doctor how to take steps to ease stress.
When do I need to call the doctor?
- Any thoughts of self harm or wanting to harm others
- Signs of low mood, changes in behavior, poor sleep, anxiety, or lack of interest in life
- Seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there
- Muscle spasm
- Stiffness in muscles or limbs
- Threatening talk or actions
- Not able to eat or drink to keep up strength
- Trouble breathing or fast heartbeat
- Not taking drugs as ordered by the doctor
Helpful tips
Join a support group. Let your family join you in these meetings. This will help you and family members learn what you can do to help. ‚
Teach Back: Helping You Understand
The Teach Back Method helps you understand the information we are giving you. The idea is simple. After talking with the staff, tell them in your own words what you were just told. This helps to make sure the staff has covered each thing clearly. It also helps to explain things that may have been a bit confusing. Before going home, make sure you are able to do these: ‚
- I can tell you about my condition and the drugs I need to take.
- I can tell you what situations and activities I should avoid.
- I can tell you what I will do if I feel I might hurt myself or someone else.
- I can tell you what I will do if I am seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not there.
Where can I learn more?
Canadian Mental Health Association ‚
http://www.cmha.ca/mental-health/understanding-mental-illness/psychosis/ ‚
NHS Choices ‚
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Psychosis/Pages/Introduction.aspx ‚
Consumer Information Use and Disclaimer
This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider. This is only a brief summary of general information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, illnesses, injuries, tests, procedures, treatments, therapies, discharge instructions or life-style choices that may apply to you. You must talk with your health care provider for complete information about your health and treatment options. This information should not be used to decide whether or not to accept your health care providers advice, instructions or recommendations. Only your health care provider has the knowledge and training to provide advice that is right for you. ‚
Copyright
Copyright ‚ © 2015 Clinical Drug Information, LLC and Lexi-Comp, Inc. ‚