Does anybody have experience with psychosis?
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The general rule for individuals who experience psyhotic breaks: 1/3 get better and don't have future psychotic breaks, 1/3 get better with a medication regimen, and 1/3 continue to struggle for life, even with medications. My info is from 1995...maybe medicine has improved on category's 2 and 3. Anxiety is a completely different disorder, and there are lots from the anxiety family to choose from. The good news is, anxiety can be successfully treated without medication, and it's possible to gain the cognitive skills necessary to buffer you from future struggles with anxiety. Find a therapist that is strong in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy...not one that sorta knows it and it's "one tool in many."
Of course you can fully recover-have you gotten any ongoing help with this-that is the path to recovery.
To answer your first question-not personally but I have a friend who has due to BiPolar Disorder. And I am studying to help more people like him.
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I think that you should think of getting medication if you're not on any both for the psychosis and for the anxiety. Also if you're not seeing a therapist regularly you should start to see one. I hope that you can find the peace that you're looking for and I know that it's possible but it will take work and time.
My therapist thinks I had a prolonged mild psychotic episode. My reasoning was way off. I did things that I regret, and got into alot of trouble. I think I recovered from the episode, but the depression is chronic so I will probably never recover from that. My personality changed as well. I was completely numb and void of emotion. I still feel somewhat detached from my emotions but am hoping that my meds and therapy will help me get back in touch with that part of myself.
I have had two psychotic breaks and I have not fully recovered to who I once was. Both landed me in mental hospitals.
My official diagnosis is Bipolar with Psychosis.
For meds I take:
Geodon 40 mg (for mania)
Abilify 10 mg (for depression)
Lamicatal 200 mg (mood stabilizer)
I've had really good results with the Geodon to control mania/psychosis. But fully recovered... yeah, not.
I went back to college so that is an improvement. I often get straight A's in a semester going full-time. I'm studying accounting. So academically I'm doing quite well.
But personally, I just want to get a temp job when I graduate because it is low stress. Just shopping.. even for food is hard. This med mix was better when I first started, but now I experience depression on it. No mania, but depression is harsh.
Total time since beginning of illness has been about 14 years.
I live with my parents so I don't have to worry about rent.
Honestly, I don't think I'll fully recover, but I think it is realistic to think that I can work, take care of myself and live on my own in the future.
But for someone who did fully recover from a schizophrenic psychotic break is Mark Vonnegut who is the son of writer Kurt Vonnegut. He eventually went to Harvard and became a doctor (pediatrician). His auto-biography is called Eden Express. I've read part of it. but when I got to his delusional period, I had to stop.
From the little I read of Vonnegut's delusions.. well, mine were quite different and more like Nash's delusions from the book and movie "A Beautiful Mind".
I really dont think anyone really fully recovers but for the grace of God. It can be managed in a way that you are able to function better. But I doubt you will EVER be the same. It is a hard life to live after something like that.
This is a difficult question to answer without a specific diagnosis. Psychosis is a general term and can occur in a wide variety of illnesses and conditions. If it's due to a general medical condition or substance-related disorder once that is successfully treated the psychosis should be resolved. If the delusions were caused by a psychiatric illness then it depends. Psychoses such as schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder tend to be chronic but can be managed by proper medication. Psychotic mood disorders tend to remit but are prone to recur so people may have to stay on mood stabilizers or other meds to prevent relapses.
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