Knowledge As a Key Factor in the Treatment For Psychosis.
Its written for my people perish for lack of knowledge and in your getting get wisdom and understanding. Psychosis is an enduring and in most cases life long illness. However it can be managed by understanding the illness and treatment and this entails a great deal of knowledge.
Knowledge will enable you to accept your diagnosis and not be in denial. Psychosis either Bipolar or Schizophrenia is synonymous with physical health condition called Diabetes Mellitus either type 1 or 2. Diabetes we all know is caused by ones Pancreas not producing insulin or not producing enough and this is always treated by medication and Insulin daily. Failure to treat this condition can be life threatening. On the other hand Psychosis requires medication which must be taken religiously to help with our chemical imbalance in the brain. However, as a result of societal stigma, people choose to be in denial coupled with people who are myopic and ignorant who believe and think there is nothing like mental illness.
My advice to such people is how about suffering bouts of delusional symptoms, paranoia, hallucination, thought disorder, thought insertion, thought withdrawal, word salad, neologism and mood swings? But then again I think its because a lot of people are in denial and have refused to acquire the knowledge about Mental Health illness.
That being said my advice to my fellow service users is to be knowledgeable about your mental health condition and get a greater understanding about all available resources to you. Most significantly be very aware of what type of medication and therapy suits you best. Its important to research about medication and its potential and known side-effect before commencing treatment. When in crisis is better to have someone who can advocate for you as well as have an advance directive in relation to your treatment. This should be initiated before any relapse.
Knowledge give you what is called INSIGHT. Being insightful is a key factor in the treatment of psychosis. Being insightful help you in regards to your medication adherence, to seek help on time, being pro-active, and essentially to accept your diagnosis. Having insight come with time however it should be the priority of every service user. I know it can be difficult when one is newly diagnosed however it come with time. It took me 4 hospital admission and enormous support from professionals and good protective factors to arrive at my destination.