Can Psychotic Symptoms be Part of Bipolar Disorder Symptoms

Bipolar disorder symptoms which are psychotic can be present in bipolar one. It must be noted that when psychosis symptoms are present, it automatically rules out bipolar II disorder. But before we dwell into the finer detail of Psychotic symptoms, I think that it is important to define what psychosis is. It is the loss of contact with the truth, which includes delusions and hallucinations.

Psychosis

The symptoms of psychosis is mostly associated with bipolar mania, bipolar 1, schizoaffective and schizophrenia disorders. There are other conditions where this psychosis symptoms can be present and this includes  dementia, postpartum psychosis,  Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and depressive episodes. While this has not been proven, it is believed that the use of certain illicit drugs, like methamphetamine, can bring about a psychotic episode.

Hallucinations

Many people associate hallucinations (hearing inner voices or sounds that are not real) with schizophrenia. While visual hallucinations is quite a common type, it is usually not associated with bipolar. Hallucinations can be experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder symptoms especially when in a depressive or mania episode.

Delusions – pronounced = de-LOO-zhuns

When people are deluded because of bipolar they are simply believing in something that is in fact not true. Some types of delusions and their information may include:

·     Delusions of grandeur – believing that they are both famous and quite important and that they are a god.

·     Delusional jealousy – this jealousy arises in the belief that their partner are not faithful when in fact it is not the truth.

·     Paranoid or persecutory delusions – it is the belief that someone is following, spying and secretly listened to you.

·     Delusions of reference – Strongly thinking that proceeding events have a special meaning only for you.

·     Other "unusual" delusions – believing they are a lion, your partner is an cat, or that big giant worms make big tunnels for trains to go through.

·     Delusions are just one aspect of the psychotic features of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Also included are some other psychiatric and medical conditions.

The Link Between Bipolar and Psychosis

Usually the same psychotic symptoms that appears in bipolar I disorder can be found in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.  It has been observed that physical illnesses that can imitate bipolar disorder symptoms do cause psychosis.

Catatonia

While catatonia is firstly a schizophrenia symptom of schizoaffective disorder, it can be noticed although rarely as a psychotic symptom of bipolar disorder symptom. A lot of people think of catatonia as catatonic stupor, where victims sits absolutely motionless and doesn't respond to anybody and anything. There are many symptoms and different forms of catatonia, which we will not try to go into detail.

Seek Help

If anyone you know is showing psychosis symptoms mentioned above, please do not hesitate to ask for help because it may be a mental health problem related to or not related to bipolar disorder symptoms. The very fact that the person is showing psychosis symptoms is good enough reason for us to do something fast because it is serious.