I think it is best to see psychosis as being a dimensional/spectrum thing rather than categorical (Yes/No).
The idea of a spectrum ranging from mild/transient episodes of psychosis through to severe schizophrenia. appeals to me.
If psychosis is on a spectrum then I am probably at the milder end of the spectrum.
Using a spectrum approach where do you see yourself as being?
I would see the psychosis not as a single quantity by itself, but as the result of a number of characteristics. I pretty much see everything like that. There is very little black and white. It is mostly grey. As for me, I havenât hallucinated that much, but Iâve had some terrific delusions. At one time I thought people were trying to get me to commit suicide. I took off to Texas.
Even in my psychosis it is spectrum experience, its just milder when not psychotic. Years ago when I first came to these forums I was really wrapped up in labels and medication, but time has proven both aspects to be less than fully truthful. Meds mediate but they do not cure. I find for me a more holistic approach is required to resolve the points of my experience that stand out dysfunctional. I am not really seeking to function like everyone else in society, so the work is a lot more rigorous and difficult. I am hoping to transcend, rather than recover function.
Well as for delusions, I think there is something like a threshold that makes the distinction delusional/non-delusional categorical. Delusions can be lurking, and tempting, while you still think of them âas ifâ. Such that youâll experience life âas ifâ people are after you, âas ifâ it is unreal etc. But then there is this point of no longer taking it in this âas ifâ sense, where youâd fully endorse delusion. This seems to me to make for a categorical distinction.
If I look back at how my delusions set in, some were quite like flipping a switch. Suddenly âgetting itâ (while in fact of course Iâd be far from getting it) this sudden experience of everything making new sense now, because of the delusion. This did not hold for my paranoid experiences, these built up more gradually.