How schizophrenia and psychosis are different, we all must have wondered. We all have come across these terms and are often confused about whether they are the same or different. And if they are different, how different are they? This article will help you solve numerous doubts about the topic and therefore keep reading it till the end.
What is Schizophrenia?
According to the American Psychiatric Association, Schizophrenia is a disorder of the brain which stays permanently. The other symptoms of schizophrenia and the causes are enumerated below.
What is Psychosis?
Psychosis happens to patients with numerous disorders. If psychosis is diagnosed at an earlier stage, the future health of patients may improve to a great extent. But if the patients stop taking medication, they may begin experiencing it again. To better help individuals with schizophrenia, and those with psychosis to seek treatment, we will understand several points of difference between them in detail.
Schizophrenia and psychosis differences can be administered through the following points.
Types of Hallucinations experienced
Psychosis is a set of several elements, whereas schizophrenia is a disorder. The patients with psychosis can listen, touch, feel, taste, and see something which does not exist in reality, but in the case of two-third of patients with schizophrenia; they only hear things that do not exist.
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Common delusion experienced
Individuals with Schizophrenia experience delusion of thought broadcasting, which means that they think that their thoughts are being sent to others. Another delusion includes thought insertion, which means that someone is inserting the thoughts in their mind. Thought withdrawal is another recurrent delusion - they staunchly believe that someone is stealing their thoughts. The most commonly experienced delusion by patients who suffer from psychosis is that they believe that they are a significant personality. They also have the paranoid delusion in which they feel suspicious about others planning to harm them.
Types
Psychosis has no further subdivisions. On the other hand, there are five types of schizophrenia. They are Paranoid schizophrenia, Residual schizophrenia, Catatonic schizophrenia, Undifferentiated schizophrenia, and Disorganized schizophrenia. The things that happen in psychosis are not categorized, but the things that occur in patients with schizophrenia are called positive and negative symptoms.
Symptoms of schizophrenia and symptoms.
During the initial stages of psychosis, they feel anxious, depressed, have sleep problems, and thinking which is obsessed about something. They also have a false perception. In the later stages, the other things that take place with the psychosis are delusions and hallucinations. Other symptoms of it include feeling irritated, having suicidal thoughts, and making oneself isolated from others. Other things that occur to the patients of schizophrenia are problems with thinking and concentrating, hearing, or seeing someone when there is no one present or calling them, called hallucinations. Along with it, they also gain the wrong impression of others, oneself, or something known as delusion. They also face difficulty in making decisions. Detecting and diagnosing the symptoms of schizophrenia and psychosis is the most significant step in understanding how schizophrenia and psychosis are different.
Cause
There is more research required to understand the cause of schizophrenia. However, the chief causes are known to be an abnormality in the brain, surrounding factors, chemical changes of the brain, and genetics. It can be caused due to genetic changes, changes in the brain, sleep, or hormones.
Age
Schizophrenia usually happens during adolescence. Psychosis commonly begins to occur when the patients are in their young adulthood. Even schizophrenia and psychosis in adults manifest at different ages.
Condition
Individuals are not in touch with reality in psychosis, but in schizophrenia, they have the false perception of reality.
Concept
Individuals with schizophrenia experience psychosis, along with the other symptoms. And schizophrenia is a disorder, whereas psychosis is a set of symptoms. Those with other disorders such as dementia, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder also experience psychosis.
Duration
Schizophrenia is for a minimum of six months. Psychosis is for at least one month.
Criteria
To get the diagnosis of schizophrenia from the doctor, an individual should have at least two or more symptoms out of disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and hallucinations. On the contrary, the doctors use a psychiatric evaluation and medical tests and x-rays to diagnose psychosis.
Treatment
For the treatment of Schizophrenia, antipsychotic and anti-tremor drugs and other kinds of therapies such as family therapy, cognitive therapy, behavior therapy, and group psychotherapy, along with other services of care, are used. The therapies for psychosis include cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoeducation, along with antipsychotic drugs.
Myths
One of the myths of psychosis is that it takes place due to the shortcomings of their character. On the contrary, it is a misconception about schizophrenia that it occurs only due to brain injuries.
Other effects
Individuals with psychosis have difficulty in organizing their behavior, thinking, and speech. They are unable to focus on one thing, and hence their thoughts keep going from one topic to another, which is not even related. They are unable to make related connections between two things. They also experience catatonia, which means that their body becomes still as a statue, and they are unable to respond to the people around them. These things frustrate and fear them due to which they cause harm to themselves or others.
Individuals with schizophrenia have a hard time taking an interest in usual activities, and they feel very fewer emotions. Due to schizophrenia, they become indifferent towards relationships, while others do not feel motivated to communicate with others. Moreover, due to myths such as schizophrenics being violent, dangerous, or angry, etc., the caretakers are usually reluctant to manage such patients out of fear.
Their quality of life also decreases a lot. They are unable to work at their workplace due to the effect of schizophrenia on their skills. This also affects their financial status. All these also affect their individual development. Hence, these are ways in which schizophrenia and psychosis are different from each other.