I am a medical school professor. I have to tell you now. I’m sharing this with my students. This is the BEST, most concise explanation of this group of symptoms I’ve heard in… Hell, I don’t think I’ve EVER heard in my 40 years of practicing and teaching. ALL HAIL!!!

I had a drug induced psychosis once. The TV talked to me. Like with images. Laughed at me even, said I was basically in a truman show and everyone was in on it. Till this day it was the most haunting experience I've ever had. I still am not right after that

I had depression induced psychosis in which my coping mechanism (maladaptive daydreaming) spiraled out of control and got me believing all sorts of things that started out comforting, but slowly became a living nightmare. I got out of it after about a year or so, but that period of my life was actually pretty traumatic and distressing. I think one of the most traumatic parts was when I started breaking out of it, because the realization that the support network of friends I had made was never real, because they were never real. It's terrifying to have your mind turn against you like that. Ever since, I have deeply sympathized with people in extreme psychosis, and I hate how others treat them, because it's impossible to describe just how severely it alters your perception of the world.

although I never experienced psychosis myself, I had an epiphany once when someone on the street approached me horrified and started saying things like they were being attacked and someone was following them. It took me about 40 seconds into their panic to realize that they were delusional because they began saying things that were definitely delusional. This changed my perspective a little bit about the idea "that's not real", because although factually it wasn't real to me, or anyone around them, it did not change that what they were experiencing was real to them, and their emotions about it were so real and felt that when they first approached me I really thought that they were in danger. So in the end, I do feel like instead of undermining the person's experience when you encounter someone like this, treating it with seriousness instead of dismissiveness is better, because they are stuck in that reality they can't escape and everything they are going through affects them emotionally and is real to them, it might as well be real, if that makes sense.

1st stage : You see a cat.
2ng stage : You talk to the cat.
3rd stage : The cat is talking to you.

My twin brother's final phase of psychosis was when he committed suicide.  Mental illness is terrible.  If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I wouldn't have believed it was possible.

I just came out of a 5 year psychosis Feb 2-25, I lost a lot, but i'm lucky to still be alive. i'm in total shock.

Without being theatrical. It’s been 10 years since anyone’s called me. My best friend died 2 years ago and now I have nobody to call. By default, I’m withdrawn. I feel an overwhelming sadness and loneliness. So I’m always interacting online like right now. Spending that time alone believing stuff that isn’t true. I know I’m stuck in a psychosis. I’m recovering by myself tho.

I got it from a heroic dose of mushrooms. Shit was so loud in my head, all these repeated voices telling me "He's so close" and "He still hasnt figured it out yet?" As well as computer instrument noises for hours . Then I tried to end myself so I could get to nirvana. So...everyone be careful and don't do stuff like that alone or without a sound mind

5 minutes in..
Me, currently in a self isolating depressive episode, barely knitting anymore: oh fuck 🥴

People also tend to isolate when they're going to get gaslighted by everyone and those people never look into what you;re saying.

I’m still recovering from first episode psychosis. My recovery is complicated by the fact that a lot of my friends and family believe in delusional thoughts that aren’t real like we never landed on the moon or Bigfoot is real. It’s so impossibly difficult to navigate my world when everyone thinks I’m the crazy one, but they believe crazy things like the government controls hurricanes to affect the elections

Clock hands moved in reverse during my post-partum psychosis experience.  I am still convinced that what I saw was real, and that I was in some sort of parallel universe or alternate reality.

My wife after 20 years of marriage and no history of mental disorders slipped into psychosis out of the blue.  Exactly a year later, it happened again.  I can tell you, it’s a rough ride for all parties involved, but an absolute horror story for the patient.  She started acting in a very hyper state and couldn’t sleep for a day or so then BAM. Reality went somewhere and confusion took its place.  It’s been about 1 1/2 years at this point.  I have watched many videos on psychosis. The one thing I can say is reality is reality.  

One thing I wish was out there is a support group for the caregivers who have a family member who is in psychosis.  Make no mistakes, what my wife went through was tragic. But, as a husband who never got a break, I started questioning how strong I was.  Just because someone comes out of psychosis, doesn’t mean they are better.  She is still recovering from the aftermath.  She went from a very active person to a couch potato.  Slowly she is getting better, but it’s a long process.  I honestly don’t know how I was able to struggle through it all.  The struggle is real for the patient and the caregiver.  I just wish I had someone to talk to because I am exhausted and tired of being strong.

Please dont think that I am trying to take anything away.  I just find that leaving posts like this helps me deal.

I once had a schizo-affective friend who had a delusion of becoming a famous rock star singer. This went on for yrs until one day I told him he had become too old to be that singer. Over a short time he gave up the delusion. I think realizing he was in fact, in reality too old, gave him 'a way out' without he having to face the fact he did not 'make it' because he didn't have the talent.

Struggling with hygiene and lazy to eat: a textbook example for the ego losing the will to live

Psychosis is something that can be treated but the experience cannot be un-lived.    The first time I got it the frightful experience left me so Shakey and unsteady I was barely able to get down the stairs.  I ended up severely underweight as was malnourished and dehydrated.  Eventually when I got the diagnosis of Bipolar 1 years later I got correct treatment and have been doing well for a long while.  Good health to you!

i thought i was a wizard at one point, and could communicate telepathically (sort of)

though something that actually did happen, which i can't explain:
about a year prior to my psychosis, i believed i was going to be physically attacked. i have no idea why the feeling came to mind
i picked up a branch to defend myself, but then thought i was being ridiculous so threw the branch away..
i was attacked by a guy about 5 minutes after that.
weird premonition

"i couldn't get back to where i was before my psychosis"
THIS!!!
this is the hardest part. i will never be the same.

I experienced psychosis twice when my potassium sunk below 2.0. Fixing my potassium pulled me out of it, but not without hospitalization. It took my own research to find a study on the link between potassium and psychosis to figure out what was happening to me. Terrifying and fascinating experiences. Most terrifying because I learned just how useless our medical system is when dealing with these kinds of conditions. They just lock you in a locked ward and leave you to your own devices with no interaction or explanation for what the hell is happening to you. And god forbid you have something like THC in your system because they immediately blame that, regardless of how much you smoke.

My mother had psychosis since literally my childhood, but my whole family has just realized that this isn't her personality problem its literally PSYCHOSIS now that I am 20