Psychotic Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder
Psychotic symptoms are hallucinations or delusions. A hallucination or delusion is a cognitive misperception of reality.
Most people think of hallucinations as being visual, but hallucinations can be auditory, olfactory, or tactile. A person may hear, smell, or feel things that are not present in the environment.
Delusions are thoughts that are not based in reality. The difference between a mere unrealistic thought and a delusion is the degree to which the thought is unconnected to reality. For example, someone may think they want to become a professional football player though they have not played well in high school. Though it may not be realistic, it is probably not a delusion by psychiatric standards. A delusion is more extreme. The person may think they have been chosen by God, are being stalked by the FBI, or have superpowers.
The psychiatric illness that is most often associated with psychosis is schizophrenia. Psychotic symptoms can also occur with bipolar disorder and depression.
With schizophrenia, the hallucinations and delusions may be of paranoia or being persecuted. Sometimes, the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia can seem random.
Psychotic symptoms of bipolar disorder are related to the depression or mania that the person is experiencing. Hallucinations or delusions related to depression are more unusual than suicidal thoughts.
A severely depressed person may have auditory hallucinations of voices telling the person that they are going to kill themselves. The person may have homicidal delusions of perceiving earth as hell and the need to save a loved one by killing them and sending them to heaven.
The euphoria and grandiosity of mania can cause psychotic symptoms of bipolar disorder. Psychotic symptoms of mania may cause the person to have delusions that they have superpowers, are immortal, or have been chosen by God.
Bipolar disorder and depression do not commonly cause psychotic symptoms. Most people living with these psychiatric conditions will never experience psychotic episodes.
Medication to treat psychosis, commonly referred to as anti-psychotic drugs, may be used to treat psychotic symptoms of bipolar disorder. Injections of an anti-psychotic medication like Haldol may be necessary if the person is resistent to taking their medication regularly.
The psychotic symptoms of bipolar disorder typically subside once the bipolar disorder or depression is stabilized. It may be hard for people to understand that the hallucinations and delusions are realistic to the person at the time they are experienced. If the person is having periods of psychosis and periods without psychosis, the person may develop anxiety and be fearful and frustrated about the psychotic symptoms.