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How To Cope With Psychotic Symptoms!
- mentalhealthclarit
- Dec 29, 2019
- 3 min read
Are you experiencing hallucinations and having trouble coping?
Dealing with mental illness is very difficult especially if you were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. Finding the right way to cope apart from medication, learning ways to cope is very important.
So today someone asked. What was the best way to cope with psychotic symptoms aside from medication and psychotherapy? Please note Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that should be treated by a Licensed Psychiatrist for medication purposes and a Clinical psychologist with psychotherapy. I was most willing to provide the tips below to help anyone who experiences psychotic symptoms. The list is not intended for those with substance induce psychosis.
Psychotic symptoms such as visual hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, although visual hallucinations are not as common as auditory are mostly experienced by persons with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia symptoms range from positive to negative symptoms among others. There are other mental disorders that experience hallucinations as well.
Schizophrenia
There are other psychiatric illnesses that also experience hallucinations
Bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD), schizoaffective disorder and post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Hallucinations can be terrifying for those experiencing them.
Coping with psychotic symptoms is very difficult. It can be terrifying and hard to cope when you lose touch with reality. Hallucinations may come in the form of ghosts and spirits and causes a great deal of anxiety.
Here are some tips to cope with psychotic symptoms.
Tips for Coping with Psychotic Symptoms
Coping with psychotic symptoms starts with prevention.
Take your medication as directed without fail. You can write down reminders or set an alarm on your phone, but it is crucial to take your medication (How to Stay on Psych Medications). Also, avoid stress, drugs, and alcohol. These are factors that can make your medication ineffective.
2. During symptoms, find things that are calming, comforting, or distracting.
Turn on the lights when experiencing hallucinations. Put the TV on for background noise. Try to be in the company of family as much as possible.
Have your loved ones keep you engaged. You can ask a close friend or relative for a “reality check”. Ask if they heard or saw the same thing you experienced. If in doubt, this could solidify that you are, in fact, experiencing psychotic symptoms and it can make you more aware of your surroundings and environment.
3. If you are symptomatic, take a break.
Psychotic symptoms can cause a lack of concentration, so you might want to take a little time off of work or school. Since you have visual hallucinations, try to avoid driving.
4. After experiencing psychotic symptoms, you may want to talk to your doctor.
*If your psychotic symptoms have worsened or impaired your functioning, you might want to see your doctor. A medication adjustment may be needed to improve your symptoms and get you back on track*.
5. Find a way to express yourself and process your psychotic symptoms to cope.
*Seeing a therapist can help you when coping with psychotic symptoms as well as help you adapt to issues in everyday life. This can help reduce stress, which can in turn help reduce your psychotic symptoms*.
You can also try art which seem to very helpful. Draw your hallucinations. You can make everyone see what you see, the hallucinations may lose their power over you. Music and writing have also been calming.
It’s Hard to Cope with Psychotic Symptoms
Psychotic symptoms can be the scariest things anyone can experience. However, it is possible to survive and move on after experiencing them.
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