My brother had hist first acute onset of psychosis a few weeks ago with no obvious prior symptoms. He was admitted to the hospital in a very confused and erratic state. He was immediately put on medication and the symptoms disappeared in about 10 days. He is now behaving as his usual self although his emotions have become duller, which the doctor says is most likely due to the medication he is currently taking (zyprexa). From what I have read on this forum and elsewhere online, 10 days seems to be a really short side for going from full blown psychosis to completely normal. My question to you all who had such short first episodes, how long was your episode? How did your life turn out like? Did you have relapses?
My brotherās psychosis seems very paradoxical to the doctor because of its acute onset and rapid recovery, no involvement of drugs, no stressful events in the last couple of years and no family history of mental problems.
My major episodes lasted months. But I also didnāt have medication and for the majority of them didnāt even have therapy to bring me back to reality. So.
Also it took me 16 years to gain insight into my condition. I had the illness since I can remember.
Nowadays I just get brief flareups that donāt last a significant amount of time at all.
While they say the shorter the time from first psychosis till initial treatment with medication can improve long term outcomes the truth is psychosis generally lasts from when they stopped taking meds until they started taking meds again. Iāve been on zyprexa for 17years and counting.
I was either not medicated or under medicated for the better part of six years and was in and out of psychosis the whole time. Itās good somebody figured it out and got him on a therapeutic dose right away. It took me that long to figure out I was sick.
Now I know that insight is everything with this illness. Only then can you truly seek recovery. I didnāt have any genetic history of mental illness but was under extreme environmental stress when I first got sick.
There is a separate forum for family members you will be directed to. Good luck with your brother.
Mine was acute onset with a quick recovery. Looking back, there were signs over the span of a year leading up to it though- Occasional moments of paranoia that werent evident to others because i kept them to myself. But if he seems like he is back to normal thats a great sign. Some people just have one episode and live a normal life. Hopefully your brother can too.
Mine has lasted 7 years I am no longer delusional but I have very strong hallucinations hallucinating constant voices and tactile no medication has ever worked for me.
Does it run in your family? And For me personally Iāve had very acute extreme episodes. Thereās no convincing me otherwise and thereās usually a ā¦strong theme
. The onset of my ilness wasnāt like instant persay but it wasnāt too drawn out either. My first acute episode was horrible and traumantic. It lasted very intensly for a few weeks I think?? but it mssed me up bad still for a while afterward (all my episodes have) and probably propelled my illness.
and then thereās just likeā¦the daily fever dream that seems to be just part of life with my sza at least. The cognitive problems and negative symptoms and paranoia and confusion of thoughts and formation of them. Itās an every day thing. Some days are better than others though.
Relapses are part of recovery and part of the illness itself. Iāve been on over 20 meds. Iāve finally been on clozapine for a little more than a year and itās the only thing that helped and of course itās a last ditch effort.
Having this illness is like navigating a map blindfolded sometimes and takes time to understand and treatā¦
Could be temporary. Just make sure that he is taken care of and all stress is gone so that itā doesnāt become a bigger problem. Psychosis is like a fire, better to throw some water on it quick!
I went off meds 2 months after. Then 7 months later I felt i was going psychotic again so i put myself back on them. Ive been on them ever since. My diagnosis is bipolar but thats because i was too afraid to tell them about all of my āstrangerā delusions. So really in my mind i am schizoaffective. Id much rather be bipolar.
It can last forever. It will last until it goes away or is successfully treated. There is no specific range of time. Itās like asking, if I get a splinter in my skin, how long will the soreness and discomfort last? The splinter needs to be removed and the body time to heal.
Like other ādiagnosticā terms, psychosis is only a label for a pattern; does not reflect accuracy or great understanding of the pattern for which the label is used/applied. This is particularly true for diagnoses of mental behavior patterns: complex, individually unique and typically lacking detailed relevant understanding by others.
The best answer I can give you, is that it depends on the patient. In schizoaffective disorder, for some, there is a phenomenon known as rapid cycling. This means moods can be extremely labile, switching from extreme highs to extreme lows in variable lengths of time from a couple of hours, on down to a few minutes.