How to deal with a psychotic break

Psychotic disorders, due to their symptoms, are very striking in the general population. Although it is true that this symptomatology is very characteristic, the truth is that it can appear as a consequence of behaviors that may seem safer to us, such as the consumption of some substances. Therefore, it could be possible that at some point we witness a psychotic break.

Possibly, if a close person were to experience a psychotic episode, many people would not know how to act. As we will see, common sense and keeping calm will be essential on these occasions. We delve more about how to deal with a psychotic break in the following Psychology-Online article. We will see if a psychotic break has a solution, the possible consequences of a psychotic prote, the recovery time after a psychotic break and how to treat a psychotic.

Index

1. What is psychosis and how does a person with psychosis behave
2. What is a psychotic break, symptoms and duration
3. How to manage a psychotic break

The psychosis, defined by the American Psychiatric Association dictionary of psychology, refers to the mental disorder in which problems related to awareness of reality appear. In these, in addition, there are alterations in brain functions such as perception or processing. These alterations cause symptoms that may include delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech. In addition, in this type of disorder there may also be alterations related to the emotional world of the patient.

Psychotic disorders include the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association) and ICD-11 (World Health Organization) diagnostic classifications. Focusing on the first, it includes the following psychotic disorders:

• Schizophrenia
• Schizophreniform disorder
• Schizoaffective disorder
• Schizotypal personality disorder
• Brief psychotic disorder
• Delusional disorder
• Substance- and / or drug-induced psychotic disorder
• Psychotic disorder due to another medical condition
• Other specified schizophrenia spectrum disorder and other psychotic disorder
• Other unspecified schizophrenia spectrum disorder and other psychotic disorder

The psychotic break or episode is defined in the American Psychiatric Association dictionary of psychology as a period in which a person displays psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized speech. If the person experiences an acute psychotic episode, it will appear suddenly and will not usually last long.

Depending on the duration and characteristics of the episode, it can be diagnosed as a disorder:

• If the episode lasts at least a day but less than a month and hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech or very disorganized or catatonic behavior appear, we could be talking about a brief psychotic disorder. In this, it is necessary that the person has returned to the previous level of functioning after the episode.
• If the episode lasts a month or more Taking into account the other necessary criteria, the diagnosis of another psychotic disorder such as schizophreniform disorder could be made.

In addition, psychotic episodes can also be caused by substance use or some other medical condition. Thus, a psychotic break can be due to drugs.

Can a psychotic break be cured? How long does it take to recover from a psychotic break? Depending on the context in which the psychotic episode occurs, it will present one evolution or another:

• If the episode has been caused by the ingestion of a substance, we understand that the episode will be an isolated event and will not occur again under normal circumstances.
• If the episode is occurring in the context of a psychotic disorder, depending on the characteristics of this, the symptoms may tend to reappear, so the person must follow a treatment.

As we indicated in the introduction, psychotic episodes are very striking due to the associated symptoms. For this reason, the relatives and friends of a person who suffers a psychotic break may feel confused and disoriented as to how to act.

First of all, we must bear in mind that psychotic episodes can present with different forms of severity. In any case, it is advisable to contact the medical services so that they can assess the case. In extremely serious cases, contact emergency services it will be as necessary as it is urgent.

After evaluating the case, the doctor could prescribe a treatment for these patients. Following Godoy, J.F., Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, M.L. (2014) the treatment for psychotic disorders will be:

• Pharmacological when the symptoms are predominantly positive (delusions and hallucinations), together with psychological and psychosocial therapy. In this article we talk about delusions and hallucinations.
• Rehabilitation of basic and / or cognitive functions when negative symptoms are more predominant.

On the other hand, for relatives and friends we offer some guidelines so that they can manage the psychotic break:

• How to act before a psychotic outbreak? First of all, they must keep calm all they can. Being calm will help reassure the person suffering from the psychotic episode to, at least, not become more upset.
• Related to the previous point, we should try to maintain a calm environment and assess if necessary and as far as possible, change the room or place of the person who is suffering the episode.
• What is the best way to treat a person with psychosis? Be empathetic: it is important that the person who is suffering the episode perceives us as support and feels our intention to help him.
• Contact emergency services and / or medical services.
• Encourage adherence to medication: supporting the affected person to follow the prescribed treatment will help prevent the appearance of new psychotic outbreaks.

In this article we talk about Aftermath of a psychotic break.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to deal with a psychotic break, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• American Psychiatric Association (2020). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Recovered from https://dictionary.apa.org
• American Psychiatric Association (2014). DSM-5. Reference guide to the diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5-Breviary. Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana.
• Godoy, J.F., Godoy-Izquierdo, D. and Vázquez, M.L. (2014) Spectrum of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders. In Caballo, V.E., Salazar, I.C. And Carrobles, J.A. (2014) Manual of Psychopathology and Psychological Disorders. Madrid. Pyramid.
• World Health Organization (WHO) (2018) International Classification of Diseases, 11th revision. Recovered from https://icd.who.int/es