#psychosis
“The Schizophrenia Spectrum” has been a hard to pin down concept, and was traditionally limited to schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and schizophreniform, and you’ll see this definition in a lot of older scientific articles. The DSM-5 added schizotypal PD onto the spectrum. Whether the definition of the schizophrenia spectrum should be expanded further is up to debate. What makes schizophrenia schizophrenia is it’s unique neurophysiology, and any additions to the spectrum should have many similarities in that regard tot he existing disorders. (The Schizophrenia Spectrum 2nd Edition Spaulding et al)
Text: psychotic people are not weak-minded
Psychosis does not mean your mind is weak. We are strong for dealing with what we do. Don’t let anyone tell you you aren’t a fighter, because psychotic people are some of the most courageous people I have ever met.
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Text: psychotic people have feelings too
Really, we’re people too. ❤️
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Text: I am not ashamed to be schizophrenic
I was born into my prodrome and this illness will be with me in some form my entire life. I would not be the same person without schizophrenia. There is nothing shameful in being schizophrenic, in having a different neurology from other people. We are not lesser, we are our own kind. Schizophrenia is not shameful and never will be.
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Epigentics are biological pathways that affect gene expression, but are not actually genes themselves. They can be passed down from one generation to another without changing the genetic code itself, just how it is expressed. Examples are histone modification and methylation. A person’s epigenetics can change based on events in their life, and these can subsequently be passed down to offspring—the epigenetics of trauma has been of particular interest in recent years. (Source: used to be a biology student).
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Text: psychotic people are strong—don’t doubt yourself
You are strong. You are a fighter. You are capable, think of what you have overcome. We are far from what we’re are stereotyped to be, and the world is going to learn that.
Text: give patients in long-term facilities better legal representation
Patients in long term care facilities are assigned lawyers, but often have trouble accessing their legal representatives. I believe these patients should have mandated meetings with their lawyers every three months or some such time period at the facilities, and the lawyer’s contact information should be posted in the patient’s room. Patients should always feel they can have access to their lawyers if they feel their rights are being violated. This is a necessary protection and should be considered a basic right for long-term institutionalized individuals.
We all know about hearing voices, but learning how common thought projection psychosis is was new to me. That is something I have often struggled with, feeling as though other could read my mind or my thoughts were being played out loud. It’s a disturbing thing to live with, and if you’re struggling with this symptom rest assured other people know how you feel. The psychotic experience is isolating, but we have many similarities. (Insight and Psychosis by Amador and David). ⠀⠀⠀⠀
Text: homeless psychotic people matter
We need more supports to keep psychotic people from becoming homeless, and to help homeless psychotic people get housing.
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The psychotic homelessness crisis was created in the US by the deinstitutionalization process of the 20th century—perhaps creating more long-term care facilities again is the solution. The problem in the 1960s was poor conditions in the asylums, and modern long term facilities need reform as well, so major changes would need to come to system, but we cannot allow our community to continue to face this issue. We need solutions for those most seriously ill with psychosis and other mental disorder like PTSD, we need to provide them the support they need. It will be expensive, but I think it is worth the money—these are people’s lives we are talking about.
Text: psychosis does not detract from your value
Please don’t think psychosis makes you worth less. You are infinitely valuable, and no medical condition can take that away.
