Definition – What is a psychosis?
A psychosis is a mental disorder. Patients suffering from a psychosis have an altered perception and/or processing of reality. While outsiders clearly perceive this perception as abnormal, the affected persons themselves are not aware of their misperception.
A psychosis can be accompanied by various symptoms. These include hallucinations, delusions and pronounced mental disorders. Psychoses can occur in the sense of a one-off episode.
However, a recurrent course can also occur. The course of a psychosis depends, among other things, on the triggering cause. An acute psychosis should be treated with medication as soon as possible.
Causes
With regard to the possible triggering causes, psychoses are divided into two large groups: The organic psychoses and the non-organic psychoses. An organic psychosis can be triggered by various somatic (physical) diseases. These include, for example, diseases of the brain such as dementia, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, or spatial demands in the area of the brain (tumors).
In rare cases, brain injuries can also lead to psychotic episodes. Certain autoimmune diseases can also trigger psychoses. Examples are multiple sclerosis (MS) or lupus erythematosus.
One of the most common causes of organic psychosis, however, is the consumption of drugs; this is known as substance- or drug-induced psychosis. Substance-induced psychosis can be triggered by various types of drugs. Besides organic psychoses, there is a large group of non-organic psychoses.
These include psychoses that occur in the context of an underlying mental illness. Schizophrenia is the most common mental illness associated with psychoses. But psychotic episodes can also occur in the context of affective disorders, i.e. depression or bipolar disorders.
However, not for every acute psychotic episode a direct triggering cause can be found. Some studies are concerned with the question of what effects a lack of certain vitamins has on mental function. Some studies have found evidence that there could be a link between a vitamin deficiency and mental disorders such as psychosis.
The subjects of these studies included vitamins D, B12 and folic acid. One study indicated that patients with psychotic disorders have a higher than average vitamin D deficiency. However, there is no proven connection so far that a lack of vitamin D can be a trigger for a psychotic episode. In the coming years further studies will be able to uncover possibly more exact to the topic.
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