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Originally Posted by tiger8
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Wow this has given me a lot to think about.
So apparently psychologists aren't in agreement about whether psychosis is black and white, or a spectrum, nor what distinguishes psychosis from other mental illness?
That sure complicates things.
Can someone help me decode this? I'm not sure if I should start a whole new thread somewhere else, now I'm really curious about psychosis, but it's such a broad topic.
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The concept of psychosis as a spectrum was further developed by psychologists such as Hans Eysenck and Gordon Claridge, who sought to understand unusual variations in thought and behaviour in terms of personality theory. Eysenck conceptualised cognitive and behavioral variations as all together forming a single personality trait, psychoticism.[3]
Claridge named his concept schizotypy, and through examination of unusual experiences in the general population and clustering of symptoms in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, the work of Claridge work suggested that this personality trait was more complex than had been previously thought and could be broken down into four factors.[4][5]
Unusual experiences: The disposition to have unusual perceptual and other cognitive experiences, such as hallucinations, magical or superstitious belief and interpretation of events (see also delusions).
Cognitive disorganization: A tendency for thoughts to become derailed, disorganised or tangential (see also formal thought disorder).
Introverted anhedonia: A tendency to introverted, emotionally flat and asocial behaviour, associated with a deficiency in the ability to feel pleasure from social and physical stimulation.
Impulsive nonconformity: The disposition to unstable mood and behaviour particularly with regard to rules and social conventions.
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So what does it mean by four "factors"? If you have some or all of these symptoms, you're on the psychosis spectrum? Because I definitely have cognitive disorganization and impulsive noncomformity, and some unusual experiences. I hallucinated once during a bad panic attack, and I do have some odd beliefs that I can't explain. Then again, so do religious people. There's a big gray line there, to me.
And if the ones who say schizotypy is a genetic vulnerability to psychosis are right, I'm screwed. Dementia runs in the family, and my grandmother who didn't have dementia would sometimes tell stories that never happened, or change major details, without seeming to know it.
Ugh. More and more I'm just wanting to make an appointment with a clinical psych, and walk in and just say, "Give me every test you've got."