Psychosis Symptoms

There are a number of symptoms that can happen when someone is having an event of psychosis. Not everyone who has psychosis will experience the same, or all, symptoms, nor will everyone experience them in exactly the same way. If you suspect that you, a family member or friend is experiencing symptoms talk to a doctor for a diagnosis and treatment options.

The most common psychosis symptoms people have shared are:

• hearing voices that others can’t hear (auditory hallucination)
• seeing things that aren’t there for others to see (visual hallucination)
• feeling things on your body (sensory hallucinations)
• thinking someone wants to hurt you or your family(paranoia/suspiciousness)
• having thoughts or ideas that don’t fit in with the reality you live in, and other people don’t share, e.g. like you are God or Jesus, or that you have a special power (delusions)

Other Psychosis Symptoms:

Disorganized Thinking and Behaviour

When thoughts and speech are muddled and making sense of them may be difficult, or if behaviour is very bizarre or unusual, you can describe them as “disorganized”.

• thoughts that race and/or jump around with no clear order
• not able to plan or not able to act on plans
• attention, concentration and memory may be poor
• thoughts may be seem blocked, speeded up or slowed down
• difficulty problem solving and processing information
• unusual or bizarre behaviour that does not make sense, is out of character or serves no purpose
• decreased reactions to the environment and what is going on around them

If you think these symptoms are happening in you or someone you love, please talk to your doctor. You do not have to have ALL of these symptoms to be experiencing psychosis.