Psychosis - Forms Of Psychosis, Symptoms Of Psychosis, Medications For Treatment, Dosages
system brain limbic lies
A psychotic state is one in which a person suffering from one of several mental illnesses loses touch with reality. People experiencing psychosis may be diagnosed as schizophrenic, manic-depressive, or delusional. Psychosis can also be induced from drug or alcohol abuse, reaction to medication, from exposure to some toxic substance, or from trauma to the brain. Psychotic episodes have a duration that may last for a brief period or may last for weeks and months at a time. Since the 1950s new medications have been developed to effectively treat psychosis and allow the person suffering from delusions or hallucinations to regain a more accurate view of reality.
There is significant evidence that the cause of psychosis lies within the limbic system, an area of the brain that lies deep within the lower, center portion of the brain and is believed to control the emotion, behavior, and perception of external and internal stimulation. The limbic system connects to all areas of the brain. It can be compared to a telephone network. If one line is down, communication cannot be made. Likewise, if an area within the limbic system is not functioning properly, appropriate signals cannot be sent or received, or inappropriate ones may be sent when the system is overloaded and working too hard.
Additional Topics
Before the careful classification of mental illnesses, anyone exhibiting psychotic behavior was thought to be schizophrenic, which is the mental illness most frequently associated with psychosis. Schizophrenia is a mental illness that is characterized by delusions, hallucinations, thought disorders, disorganized speech and behavior, and sometimes catatonic behavior. Emotions tend to flatten out an…
Hallucinations are a major symptom of psychosis and can be defined as a misperception of reality. Auditory hallucinations are the most common form. Patients hear voices that may seem to be outside his or her head or inside. The voices may be argumentative or congratulatory. Patients who exhibit visual hallucinations may have an organic problem, such as a brain lesion. Other types of hallucinations…
Antipsychotic medications were first used after it was noticed that a newly synthesized anesthetic had unusual ability to sedate patients who did not become unconscious from its use. Dr. Henri Laborit, a French physician, encouraged his psychiatric colleagues to try the drug on their schizophrenic patients. They were so successful with this drug, chlorpromazine, that its use spread quickly through…
Antipsychotic medicines vary widely in the amount of dosage needed to stabilize patients. One patient may need only 10 or 20 mg of an antipsychotic, while another will need hundreds of milligrams. The blood is monitored to determine the necessary dosage. A group of patients receiving the same medication can need widely differing amounts of the same medicine to achieve the desired effect. While med…
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