Is this normal?

Hi @Coffeelover

Nice to 'meet' you.

I wish I could answer your questions, but I'm not sure about any of them, so I will point you to the experts - people who have experienced psychosis. Do you have a diagnosis? A psychotic episode can occur within several diagnoses (e.g, schizophrenia, schizoaffective as well as substance-induced psychosis, and so on). This might help explain some of what you're experiencing.

I know that @Zam has schizophrenia, of which psychosis can occur. They might be able to answer some of your questions. Also @Former-Member has written here about their experience with a psychosis earlier this year. In that thread, @Queenie also provides some useful strategies that she has used to live with psychosis.

@Coffeelover, are you still experiencing any symptoms, and if can you describe them to us?

Hi @Coffeelover, i will try to answer some questions as best as i can. Im no expert though, so take that in mind.

It is a bit harder to answer some questions since not a lot of information was given out.

I read that a lot of people in their lives will at some point go through one psychotic episode, so it might possibly have been a one off thing. Have you gone to a doctor since the episode?

I myself have Schizophrenia and that starts most often in early adult years and a bit more rare in middle age. I dont know about the age frame in other forms of psychosis though, i imagine it can happen at any age though like for other reasons like severe depression, stress and drug induced. Not saying those are the reasons you might have experienced it but just pointing out that there are many reasons why someone could experience a psycotic episode.

I can say that for a while after some pretty extreme psychotic episodes i have had that after them for a long period of time i would also have zero enthusiasm and would just want to sleep all the time. So it might be a common symptom.

sorry im not much help and i hope things get back on track for you

Hi Cherrybomb,

Thanks for your reply & I'll look through the posts mentioned. Thanks again!

Thanks Hope32, I'll have a look. Thank you again!

Hi @Coffeelover

I experienced 2 psychotic episodes (three years apart), and I really know what you mean about feeling 'blurgh'... that is exactly the word for it! Both times, I would say I felt psychotic for about a week or ten days, then felt pretty flat and uninterested in life for about 3-4 months. It felt like my malaise was partly caused by the dulling effect of my medication (antipsychotic drugs) and partly caused by the shock of it all, and coming to terms with the fact that this had happened - so completely out of the blue.

I just kept trying to keep trudging on, going to work everyday, doing exercise and spending time with friends, until I started to feel better again. It took some perseverance. Changing medication also helped, and I wish I'd talked to my doctor earlier about how miserable I felt.

If you're finding yourself reliving the experience - perhaps it's worth writing it down, or drawing your interpretation of it, to give yourself some closure? If you're feeling ready enough to do that...

I've been well now for 7 years. Having a good therapist to talk to, as well as a good psychiatrist, is really important in my opinion.