Psychosis, schizophrenia, & manic depression
Experts used to think that psychosis was an all or nothing thing. They used to think people either had it or didn't.
But studies have shown this is not the case. Now we know that people vary in how psychotic they are. They vary in how often they have it too. Some people have it less than others. Some people have it more. Some people have it so little that it would be wrong to call it psychosis. It would be better just to call it a strange experience. Lots of people have had some sort of strange experience.
But some people have too many. Or they are very upset by them. They may need help to cope with them. This is the sort of experience that people call psychosis.
Some people call long lasting psychosis either schizophrenia or manic depression. Manic depression is also called bipolar disorder. These terms help doctors to know which medicine to give. These terms also help doctors say how likely it is that a patient will get better.
Lots of people, including patients and experts, find these terms helpful. They can help people explain what they are going through. They can help people get the help they need. But others, including patients and experts, don't like using these terms. They may not agree that schizophrenia and manic depression are useful terms. They might also want to avoid the stigma that goes with them.
Why we use the term psychosis in this website
The terms schizophrenia and manic depression have been criticised by many people over the years. They are often seen as explaining things in just a medical or biological way. This upsets people who feel that things are not that simple. Using the name psychosis might be better. This is because the term psychosis just describes the experiences. It does not try to explain why they have problems.
Some experts have suggested that schizophrenia and manic depression are actually the same thing. This is because hearing voices, having unusual beliefs and having mood swings are things that happen in both schizophrenia and manic depression. Using the term psychosis might be better. Because it only tries to describe what people experience. It does not go into causes. It does not suggest one way of explaining things.
