Ask a doctor - What is psychosis, and why does it happen?

Q. What is psychosis, and why does it happen?

Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.

Answered by Secondmedic Expert

Psychosis is a group of symptoms that affect the mind, impacting how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. It involves losing touch with reality and is typically characterized by delusions or hallucinations, which are misperceptions of what is going on around them.

Psychosis can be caused by a variety of factors, including biological issues such as genetic problems and chemical imbalances in the brain. Additionally, some environmental factors such as sleep deprivation and drug use (both prescription medications or recreational drugs) can play a role in triggering psychotic episodes. Stressful life events such as trauma or life changes like bereavement can also have an impact. And sometimes psychosis may have no specific cause at all; it may simply develop without any clear explanation for why it occurred.

No matter what causes it or why it happens to someone however, the effects of psychosis are real and serious – often leaving people feeling confused, scared, overwhelmed and isolated from others due to their inability to make sense of their experience. For this reason prompt medical attention should be sought if symptoms persist for more than two weeks or begin suddenly without an obvious trigger so that appropriate treatment options (including medication) can be explored if necessary..