People with a mental illness need the same understanding and support given to people with a physical illness. A mental illness is no different - it is not an illness for which anyone should be blamed. It is rarely possible for someone with a mental illness to make the symptoms go away just by strength of will. To suggest this is not helpful in any way. A psychosis is a condition caused by any one of a group of illnesses that are known, or thought, to affect the brain causing changes in thinking, emotion and behaviour.
People experiencing an acute stage of a psychotic illness lose touch with reality.
Their ability to make sense of thoughts, feelings and external information is seriously affected. During an episode of these disorders, people perceive their world differently from normal. During an episode, what they see, hear and feel is real to them, but people around them do not share their experiences. People with psychoses might develop delusions - false beliefs of persecution, guilt or grandeur, or they may experience hallucinations where they see, hear, smell, taste or feel things which are not there. They may be depressed or elated out of all proportion to their life circumstances.