Psychosis

Since my latest seizure last week I have been feeling like I’m dying- ive been feeling really anxious and spent all night last night in A&E waiting to be seen by the mental health team due to worsening pain in face. They asked if it was my psychosis returning again (I’m hallucinating again) but I said I don’t think so as I’m taking all relevant medication but she said they don’t think there is anything wrong with physically which is frustrating especially as I felt like I wanted to vomit blood twice last week (but I didn’t). They all put it down to heightened anxiety levels since my seizure and that I need to do CBT and have talking therapy.
#Anxiety
#Epilepsy

My story is real is not a fairytale is my life experience. Trauma is real but I got distance to it after 4-5 years of pain and not being able to live.
#MightyTogether #Anxiety #Depression #PTSD #ADHD #Psychosis

Last week Wednesday, I went into psychotic depression. I had so much anxiety about my mom being in the hospital. That same week I had a nightmare about my son that added icing on the cake. My son is 23 and I could literally see 3 years old little Andrew(my sons name) sitting on my carpet playing with his cars. My therapist of course didn’t see him or hear him. I saw black shadows on my wall and one off them got really big. I wanted to walk around my neighborhood usually walking helps my depression. By the lake I saw a sign that said “Drown your psychosis “ that would mean I would have to jump in the lake but I didn’t. My walk didn’t help so I laid in bed most of the time. My therapist and I had two sessions a week and finally I called my psych NP and she gave me 2 weeks worth of 15mg of Zyprexa. I take the last pill this Wednesday the same day I see her via zoom. So far I feel better but some paranoia is still here.

Did I have a hallucination or psychosis ? I have GAD AND have been having a flair for about a month . I left a toxic job and took a few weeks to recover and then I started picking up more shifts at my part time job only some weekdays and Saturday alternative Saturday . I realized my boss is a micromanager when stressed sometimes and there is this. This realization has sparked my anxiety again and I smoked and thought my phone was hacked , I visually saw an app called “ wizard of gourd” and thought I was hacked . I freaked out deleted some apps and told my fiancée , when I showed him my phone it wasn’t there anymore . Idk how to tell him I had a hallucination or psychosis from smoking and my anxiety levels not mixing . This has happened in the past in college and we started smoking again recently no problems but when my anxiety is like this the substance and my condition don’t mix well. I feel too embarrassed to tell him and also scared he will think I’m a lunatic.

What is akithisia?

According to Lohr et al (2015) ‘’Akathisia is one of the most vexing problems in neuropsychiatry. Although it is one of the most common side effects of antipsychotic medications, it is often difficult to describe by patients, and is difficult to diagnose and treat by practitioners.’’ Additionally, ‘’akathisia is generally either underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, which is a serious problem because it can lead to such adverse outcomes as poor adherence to medications, exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms, and, in some cases, aggression, violence, and suicide.’’ (Lohr et al, 2015).

‘’Akathisia is usually grouped with extrapyramidal movement disorders (ie, movement disorders that originate outside the pyramidal or corticospinal tracts and generally involve the basal ganglia). Yet, it can present as a purely subjective clinical complaint, without overt movement abnormalities.’’ (Lohr et al, 2015).

In Van Putten (1975)’s The many faces of Akathisia, it is stated that akathisia ‘’can be mistaken for an exacerbation of the original mental illness.‘’

‘’The inner agitation of akathisia is always subjectively stressful. Kalinowsky15 states that akathisia can be “more difficult to endure than any of the symptoms

for which [the patient] was originally treated” (Van Putten, 1975).

In my opinion (as someone who is not a healthcare professional), Van Putten’s article is outdated and incorrect in many respects.

However, as a patient who has experienced akathisia many times - I believe that it is worth thoroughly screening psychiatric patients for akathisia. In my own experience, clinicians often fail to recognise akathisia unless it fits within a very narrow interpretation (a patient pacing or being visibly restless/agitated). While this is certainly an indication of akathisia, it can also present in very subtle ways (whilst being excruciatingly painful).

I think that it may manifest in vastly different ways depending on how different individuals express feelings of distress. In some individuals, it may be invisible.

I believe that further research into patients’ subjective experiences of akathisia would be beneficial.

It is fairly easy to treat.

I also believe that patients taking psychiatric medication should be educated about akathisia and tardive dyskinesia. Many patients have no idea about these conditions, and therefore do not recognise symptoms as they arise. They may believe that their condition is deteriorating, without realising that there is a fairly simple solution which could alleviate some of their suffering (or a great deal of their suffering).

References:

Lohr, J. B., Eidt, C. A., Abdulrazzaq Alfaraj, A., & Soliman, M. A. (2015). The clinical challenges of akathisia. CNS Spectrums, 20(S1), 1–16. doi.org/10.1017/S1092852915000838

Van Putten, T. (1975). The many faces of Akathisia. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 16(1), 43–47. doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-440X(75)90019-X

#MentalHealth #Schizophrenia #SchizoaffectiveDisorder #BipolarDisorder #Bipolar1 #Bipolar2 #Depression #Anxiety #Psychosis

Schizophrenia has been an indefatigable force, barreling through history since the origin of humans.

It’s gained strength when people have tried to snuff it out—much vaster than DNA.

Gerard de Nerval’s Aurelia is an example of schizophrenia’s power to claim its place in humanity, written in degrees of psychosis while living on the kindness of strangers in Paris.

It inspired the greater surrealists in art, and it’s a mystic gift to readers, fractured, undone, and perfect.

Hi, my name is Ania5. I'm here because I deal sometimes with psychotic episode aand I want to share my experience and read about yours :)

#MightyTogether #Psychosis

I have been researching why I sleep all of the time! I have bipolar disorder. I sleep about 18 hours a day. I read that 30 minutes of exercise each day can help balance sleep/wakefulness. The weather change to winter always makes me sleep longer! I would like to break this cycle. If you have difficulty with sleep too, please post suggestions that you have to getting up and staying awake!