I have had psychosis so I think I am qualified enough to answer this question.

Neurosis is actually an old term of a time when the combination of the diseases (anxiety as well as depression) was thought to be a nervous disorder (think of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) but even after they found out it means "no significant impairment of the nervous system" they did not coin a new term for the combination of anxiety and depression. In modern times, depression and anxiety are considered to be separate disorders which can co-occur at the same time in the same person.

Neurosis means you're "almost sane", and it's only considered as a diagnosis if you have anxiety and depression which interfere with your ability to cope with day-to-day life.


Psychosis on the other hand, is a broad spectrum of diseases (but the internet being the internet, says it's a "symptom", yes of course, a symptom consisting of different symptoms) that interfere severely enough to cope with your day-to-day life. It generally involves four parts


- Disorganized speech. (The affected individual speaks but the healthy, non-mental health worker individual cannot make sense out of it)

- Disorganized thoughts. ("They're after me!")
- Disorganized behavior (copying the moments of the person the affected individual is talking to, for example)
- And a bunch of other stuff that depends on what kind of disorder you have (i.e., symptoms of a person affected by paranoid schizophrenia is differing appreciably from a person affected by schizoaffective disorder, although both have psychosis as a core)


Just like depression, psychosis is different for different people. Some individuals may have an unshakable belief that they're godly and almighty, while others may have a 'mixed episode' of depression and psychosis where the persons may believe they're worthless and deserve to die.

As an interesting ending note, I should say that I am a person diagnosed with psychosis. My psychiatrist does not tell me my diagnosis (I am not from the US) but yes I do have psychosis. But it's very possible to get back on the right track with the proper help from trained professionals. With the help of medications and mild therapy from my psychiatrist I am was able to get admitted to the BSc course I am currently in. I plan to get a doctorate in quantum chemistry and I plan to do research on quantum mechanics. Full recovery is possible, no matter whether you have neurosis or psychosis. I once read a research article that said depression could be helped when people over the age of 60 were given antidepressants. But proper and early treatment will help help. Get treatment as early as you can, if you have a loved one that may be affected or you believe you may be affected. Talk to your GP or internist first.