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psychosis - disruptions in thoughts and perceptions leading to a disconnection from
reality
-symptoms may include abnormal behaviors and sensations, including catatonic behavior
-may be acute or chronic
-Although psychosis is categorized as a psychiatric disorder, it commonly occurs as a secondary
condition due to underlying endocrine, vascular, immunologic, or metabolic problems
-Drugs, other substances, or other psychiatric conditions such as depression or mania may also
cause symptoms
Psychosis: Clinical Presentation - divided into several clinical domains
-positive
• occur when clients experience things in addition to reality
• hearing voices or seeing things that are not there
-negative
• involve a loss of something
• loss of ability to experience pleasure or loss of motivation
-cognitive
• disorganization in thoughts, memories, focus, or attention
-affective
• the client's feelings and emotions
-motor
,• may include abnormalities in gait, balance, and coordination, irregular muscle contractions, or
tremors
Psychosis: Positive Symptoms - Hallucinations
Delusions
Thought disorder
Hostility
Excitability
Psychosis: Motor Symptoms - Motor delay
Dyscoordination
EPS
-Parkinsonism
-Dyskinesia
Psychosis: Affective Symptoms - Depression
Anxiety
Suicidality
Psychosis: Cognition symptoms - Attention
Working memory
Verbal memory
Visual memory
Executive functioning
Processing speed
Social conditioning
Psychosis: Negative Symptoms - Affective flattening
Alogia
Anhedonia
Amotivation
, Asociality
Hallucinations: - perceptual experiences in the absence of external stimuli
-Auditory
• may include command hallucinations
-Visual
-Tactile: feeling sensations in the body in the absence of stimuli
-Olfactory: smelling things that are not there
-Gustatory: tasting things that are not there
Delusions: - fixed false, irrational beliefs
-persecution: delusions r/t being threatened, victimized, or spied on
-reference: delusions r/t receiving personal messages from tv, radio, or actions of others
-somatic: delusions r/t the body, including illness or the presence of foreign objects
• may believe there are objects in their body (may think they are infested with insects.)
-grandeur: delusions r/t beliefs of special abilities or powers
-control: delusions that actions & thoughts are controlled by others
Symptoms of Psychosis: Thought Disorder - impairment in the process of thinking and
difficulty organizing thoughts in a logical pattern.
-incoherent speech
-loose associations
-meaningless words
-perseveration
Symptoms of Psychosis: Disorganized Behavior - disordered or impaired behavior or
communication
-childlike silliness
-unpredictable agitation
-inappropriate clothing for the weather