Lesson 1: Clinical Disorders – Part C

PART C

Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders are a group of illnesses characterized by severe disturbances in the capacity to distinguish between what is real and what is not real.  The person with psychosis exhibits major problems in thinking and behavior.  These include symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.  These result in many impairments that significantly interfere with the capacity to meet ordinary demands of life. 

When some people hear the word “psychosis,” they think of deranged individuals who are very much out of touch with reality. In truth, this view is only partially correct. Although individuals are not usually deranged, they may display psychotic symptoms that result from being out of touch with reality. A person’s ability to think clearly, respond emotionally, and communicate effectively is severely impaired. Individuals do not have the ability to understand reality. Such individuals do not perceive things the way most other people do, and their outward behaviour highlights this fact. To most people, the behavioural responses of individuals with psychotic disorders are extremely unusual.

Psychotic symptoms can be observed in many serious mental illnesses (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, delusional disorders), but they can also be induced through the use of alcohol and other drugs. Such symptoms interfere with a person’s daily functioning and can be quite debilitating. Two of the most common psychotic symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is a false or unusual belief held by an individual and the delusion (belief) is not generally accepted by other members of the person’s culture or subculture. For example, an individual may believe that the Prime Minister of Canada is in love with him or her, despite never having met the Prime Minister. With hallucinations, people see, hear, feel, smell, or taste something that is not actually present -- in essence, people who are hallucinating perceive sensory stimulation without any stimuli. For instance, with auditory hallucinations, a person hears voices when no one is talking.