Common Myths About Psychosis

Mental illness is heavily stigmatized, often to the point of it being a taboo subject. Though the medical community can tell you that keeping stigma is a prime reason why people are dissuaded from seeking help, it still continues to be a socially acceptable thing to judge.

The stigma surrounding mental illness is particularly strong when it comes to psychosis. Think of how many people you have heard call someone "psycho" as an insult, or of how Hollywood's Psycho movie portrayed people with this illness.

People who have experienced psychosis are often scared to admit it, primarily because of the terrible myths about psychosis that circulate mainstream society. After all, no one wants to be thought of as a "psycho."

On behalf of everyone who has ever had a bout of psychosis, it's time to dispell the following myths involving this particular brand of mental illness. Do you believe any of these common misconceptions about psychosis?

Psychosis makes people go "psycho," which in turn means that psychotic people are dangerous.

Contrary to what they showed in Psycho, most people with psychosis do not randomly start slashing people — nor do they turn into Norman Bates. More often than not, people with psychosis are confused, despondent, or freaked out by what they're experiencing.

Psychosis doesn't mean that you will become violent. Rather, the medical definition states that psychosis is a loss of contact with reality. So, examples of psychosis may include seeing things, hearing things, having strange behaviors, or just beginning to believe things that aren't quite normal.

Sadly, most people don't know this because it's one of the most pervasive myths about psychosis in mainstream society. (Thanks a lot, Hollywood.)

People who are psychotic are bad people, or have a character flaw that made them psychotic.

In American society, we tend to believe that people who are having difficulties in life somehow deserved them. As a result, one of the most damaging myths about psychosis is that people somehow "deserve" to suffer from psychosis because they didn't prevent it.

Personal accountability can be a major name in the game for things like finance, career, and jail records — but not when it comes to mental illness. There's only so much preventative care you can offer for mental illness, and the truth is that psychosis can happen to anyone.

No one knows what causes psychosis in full. There's a biochemical aspect to it at times, but not always. Some people are genetically predisposed to it, while others can have it caused by high levels of stress.

Not all factors are predictable or preventable, so blaming the mentally ill victim is very cruel and unreasonable. Psychosis can happen to anyone, and around three percent of all people will have a psychotic episode at one point in their life. It can even happen to you.

People with psychosis can't lead normal lives.

This is one of those myths about psychosis that prevents people from seeking help they absolutely need. The truth is that a person who suffers from psychosis can lead a normal, healthy, and happy life — as long as they seek treatment for their mental illness.

It's also worth noting that psychosis isn't always an illness that constantly affects a person's life. Many people have "one-off" psychotic episodes that vanish with treatment, and go on to live normal lives after treatment wraps up.

Psychosis is a contagious disease.

This is part of the stigma that comes with psychosis. Some people really do believe that mental illness is contagious, but it's not.

You can't catch psychosis like you can catch chicken pox. Diseases like chicken pox are transmitted by bacteria and other microbes. Psychosis isn't caught due to inhaling or ingesting a virus; it's an imbalance in body chemistry or a misread in one's mind.

Thankfully, this is one of the myths about psychosis that is fading from public belief.

Psychosis is just one illness.

Thought psychosis was a full mental illness diagnosis? Nope! Don't worry, you're not alone in making this mistake. This is one of the most common myths about psychosis, and it's one that many people don't fully understand.

Psychosis is technically not a single mental illness, but a symptom associated with a variety of different mental disorders and other illnesses. A person with psychosis could be a diagnosed schizophrenic or with Bipolar I, or even mania.

Moreover, not all psychosis is brought about by a diagnosed mental illness. Brain tumors, syphilis, Alzheimer's, old age dementia, and even epilepsy can all have psychosis as a symptom. People also can have a brief psychotic disorder without any diagnosis, as well as drug-induced psychosis.

All in all, psychosis is an umbrella term that can cover a wide variety of symptoms and disorders. Painting it as a specific mental illness is not always the best way to see things.

Psychosis can't be treated.

One of the older myths about psychosis is the belief that it can't be treated, or that people who have psychosis will be locked up in a psychiatric ward for the rest of their lives. This may have been true in the past, but not anymore.

People with psychosis are able to get therapy, medication, and even get self-help books that allow them to manage their symptoms easily. Psychosis is very treatable, and most who have it can recover.

Psychosis means that people can snap in a second, for no reason whatsoever.

Perhaps one of the most damaging myths about psychosis is the idea that people who have psychosis can "snap" at the drop of a hat and become violent. This myth actually has been proven to make finding employment difficult for people who have struggled with mental illness in the past, so it needs to be stopped.

The majority of people with psychosis do not have it as a sudden onset phenomenon, and of those who do, they almost never become violent. Imagine if you suddenly began hearing voices. Chances are that you'd probably be more terrified than violent, don't you think?

People who have psychosis have split personalities.

For many people who deal with psychosis, this is one of the most annoying myths about psychosis they face. "Multiple personalities," in the way that Hollywood portrays it is actually caused by Dissociative Identity Disorder.

This is a disorder that's totally unrelated to psychosis but often has psychosis as a symptom. This, much like bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and depression, can fit under the umbrella term of "Psychotic Disorders."

That being said, only a very small percentage of people with psychosis have Dissociative Identity Disorder, and not all people with DID have psychosis. Assuming one means the other isn't fair to people who suffer from either issue.