Psychosis happens when the mind cannot distinguish between what is real and what isn’t. A person’s behavior may deviate from the norm (one person describes staying up all night, talking to himself), and their thoughts about and interpretations of reality no longer line up with what everyone else thinks and sees.
The person may experience hallucinations (sensing things that aren’t there) and/ or delusions (false beliefs about reality). They may experience what is called disorganized thinking, which can include racing thoughts and ideas and making links between ideas or words that other people don’t understand or find meaningful. The person may speak quickly, stumble over their words, confuse words or make up new ones, and jump from one topic to another.
Psychosis is not a diagnosis in itself but rather a symptom of another mental or physical health condition. When psychosis does not seem to stem from any discernible disorder and is short-lived, it is generally characterized as a brief psychotic disorder.