a question about phsycotic thourghts

[suki1066]

hello everyone, hope you are all well.
my question today is "what is a phsycotic thourght" the reason i ask is that my dd and i were talking and she described what her nurse said was phsycotic thourghts, i said i had similer thourghts and described them, i never have considered myself " phsycotic" as i suppose i dont fully understand the meaning.
when ever i experienced them, i just figured it was my brain taking what i was worried about to the furthest extream...kind of to show me whats the worst could happen.
does the above make sense???
thanks xx

 

[oneday]

Hi suki,

I suppose the first thing I would say is that 'psychosis' or 'psychotic' are just words, labels that people (mental health professionals) use to describe a whole range of experiences/feelings/behaviours.

A few years ago now I was involved in putting together a mental health handbook with a group of other mental health service users/survivors. Our definition of psychosis in the book went like this:

"Psychiatrists use the the word 'psychosis' when they judge that someone cannot tell what is real or rational and what is imaginary, especially where this involves hearing or seeing things that nobody else hears or sees (these are called auditory and visual hallucinations), or believing things that other people generally believe to be untrue, or that don't make obvious sense to them (these are called 'delusions').

These kinds of thoughts and feelings may be extremely frightening and confusing for some people. If you go through distressing psychotic experiences for more than a short period of time you may find that your ability to get on with your everyday life is seriously disrupted. If you come into contact with medical services you may find you're given a diagnosis of 'manic depression'/'bipolar disorder' or 'schizophrenia'."

Don't know if this helps. We all have our own take on reality, and I'm sure we all have beliefs and experiences that other people might find strange or can't relate to. That's one of the problems, to me, of this kind of labelling by psychiatry: if someone else doesn't understand me, where does the 'fault' lie - in me or in the other person's understanding? (or somewhere between?)

I'd stick with your own definition if I were you: 'just your brain taking what you're worried about to the furthest extreme'...

 

[suki1066]

thankyou for your response, i thourght i was ok as i try to reason with myself why i do some things such as what ive mentioned here. Mostly i can find reasons, such as with vivid dreams etc, and my daytime dreams as i call them. xx

 

[rasselas]

...

Hi Suki

I think Oneday has hit the nail on the head.

We must accept that the nature of reality is unknown. In fact much of what we call 'reality' is a kind of shared agreement between people. When our experiencing of reality falls out of sync with the group's, it can be an isolating experience.

I have gone through numerous shifts in my experiencing of reality. What I learnt was to not isolate myself too much with regards offloading what I was experiencing and how it was making me feel. I also learnt that not only was it weird, frightening and anxiety-forming for me, but likewise for the majority of people I disclosed it to. It doesn't take much for the average person to feel afraid when the fabric of reality is challenged - it's why horror films are so popular.

I also learnt that it could prove very self-defeating to disclose my altered experiencing of reality to psychiatrists - or at least, I learnt to be very careful about editing it down. A bit like editing a Stephen King novel into a form suitable for young children to read. This is because in many ways psychiatrists are employed by society to representatively react with horror to someone's altered experiencing of reality. Instead of say 300 people screaming and crapping their pants in the auditorium in reaction to the horror film, the psychiatrist is sent in ahead of them to react objectively. It's all rather like the British Film Board Classification team. If you want to get your film rated and given license to show to others, you've got to be careful not to push the envelope too far. However, if you get your 18 rating, instead of popcorn, think popping pills. You may be offered psychotherapy if you get a PG.

I'm rambling and enjoying this anaology. Because I've only just now thought of it as I type it may not make a great deal of sense. I apologise for that. I'll give this further thought and do another draft!

Overall though my advice is to find someone you can trust to talk about your experiences with. It really does help immensely to offload, whether it's about a bad day at work, some gitty neighbour that's doing your head in, or some flamboyantly imaginative retelling of the nature of time and existence. Holding anything stressy inside is never a good idea.

I've always personally subscribed to the belief that pretty much ALL that gets described as 'psychosis' has some symbolic, individual meaning and that if you explore the content of the psychosis you'll get some quite profound 'breakthroughs' and personal insights. It's very much like analysing a poem, a painting or a well-written book.

I think there is a message in psychotic phenomena, something which requires revealing. You seem to be on a similar mental path that I chose many years ago. Tread carefully but be bold and be hopeful. There is a message in it all, something worth paying attention to and trying to get to grips with. I wish you luck and strength.

 

[suki1066]

thanks Rass
lovin the way you write.... you are so right about talking things though, yet at 44 i still havent got to grips with it.. yet i am fully aware that off loading clears the deck...yet i dont do it. I always seem to be the one ppl ask for a straight answer, or an unbiased opinion yet i never ask for the favour to be returned. So is suppose i keep everything festering away inside, at the mo i am coming through a depression, that has been at least 3 years in the making and with a bit of help from ads ( i lowered the dose) and the realisation that i dont have to be the one who makes everyones life easier at the expence of myself!!!!
sometimes i feel i think too much and should let go and see what happens, its very hard to (for me) put myself first.... but i know at some point im going to have to. the roller coaster of life can be a sod at times... i spend too much time alone after work, the habit of not saying anything spills over when dh comes home. and i really cannot imagine his face if when he asked "how was your day" i replied for example... " well, yesterday our son got the sack from work... and today whilst in the bath i started day dreaming that because of that he hung himself and was the person who the police knocked up in the middle of the night and had to acompany them to the morgue to identify him, you was away at work, then i went to work the next day as normal and didnt tell anyone... as i didnt want anyone to tell you (as he drives abroad ) untill you came back." thats a shortend version of the daydream
i have had many very graphic awake and asleep dreams along this line...
ive just reread what iv written and think i already, just by writting it down have figured it out, lol theres a lesson learnt today xx