Psychotic disorders are considered as one of the more severe forms of mental illness, and they strike up to 3% of the population. Most often, symptoms begin in adolescence and young adulthood and can easily be ignored for many months and even years.

Psychosis is a disorder of the brain that results in loss of contact with reality. The changes can affect the person’s perceptions, thoughts, emotions and behaviour.

At some point, everyone has felt suspicious, thought they heard a voice or saw something that turned out not to exist. Generally, we realize our misperceptions and adapt our points of view to reality. However, when people are absolutely sure (or have an unshakable conviction) that these perceptions indeed reflect reality or that their suspicion is perfectly justified, this may indicate the presence of psychotic symptoms.

Psychotic states can arise from a number of diseases, including schizophrenia, induced psychosis, bipolar disorder and delusional disorder.

When left untreated, psychosis causes persistent suffering and interferes with the person’s ability to fulfill professional, family and social obligations.


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