[SparkyCat]

Hi all, I hope someone here can help. I've been suffering from hallucinations and delusions over the last couple of months - it took two weeks for me to be honest with my care coordinator about them because they made me so scared to tell anyone. I spent a month in a psychiatric unit due mostly to suicidality and rather than making steps to reduce the prevalance of the visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations instead they focused on trying to distract me, on giving me medication to reduce the anxiety that the hallucinations cause. I constantly feel watched, that my phone is monitored, that every move I make is watched. Even making a post like this is intimidating for me. But despite all this, with no explanation, the doctors have refused to call this psychosis. They call part of it flashbacks from possible PTSD but much of it is not even close to things I have ever actually experienced so that doesn't explain it all.

I guess I just want to know if anyone has any experiences of dealing with what I'm told are delusions and hallucinations, and things which scare the hell out of me, but with an unexplained refusal to call it psychotic.

If they're not calling it psychosis it could be pseudo/quasi psychosis which usually occurs in personality disorders like schizotypical or borderline pd.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Have medical causes been ruled out?

[A18793715]

How is that not psychosis?

[junkDNA]

maybe they dont believe u. ????

[A18793715]

Then they would be delusional. Which is psychotic.

http://www.healthline.com/health/psy...alseRealities3

Did they even call it psychotic or schizophrenic symptoms to treat?

[A18793715]

Originally Posted by Hyperagitate

Did they even call it psychotic or schizophrenic symptoms to treat?

Psychosis is apart of schizophrenic symptoms.

[SparkyCat]

Originally Posted by Hyperagitate

Did they even call it psychotic or schizophrenic symptoms to treat?

Nope, they only ever refer to it as hallucinations. They seem to believe me but not want to rock the boat with a significant medication change, even when what I see and hear leads to self harm. I get frequent lectures about how I'm in control and that the voices can't hurt me but I genuinely don't believe them.

They might just want to treat your symptoms and not label you with a psychotic illness as you may not fit the full criteria. Only explanation I can see. I hope you get better and your hallucinations and delusions subside.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by A18793715

Then they would be delusional. Which is psychotic.

Psychosis: Symptoms, Causes & Risk Factors

i wasnt saying i didnt believe the OP i was just speculating abt why the drs would do that. and it happened to someone else on here. where her drs didnt believe her

[Frank34]

The key word is delusions. The word psychosis doesn't mean anything by itself.
You mentioned you also have physical symptoms. Are your voices attacking you physically? Also, do you have any idea who your voices are or are they complete strangers?

[The_little_didgee]

Originally Posted by SparkyCat

But despite all this, with no explanation, the doctors have refused to call this psychosis. They call part of it flashbacks from possible PTSD but much of it is not even close to things I have ever actually experienced so that doesn't explain it all.

Do you have any idea why the doctors think you are having flashbacks? Are you experiencing loss of time (dissociation), and depersonalization?

PTSD is often misdiagnosed or confused with schizophrenia. A psychiatrist once told me it can be very hard to differentiate between the two. It is possible to have both conditions.

PTSD psychotic symptoms seem to have foundation made of anxiety that manifests itself as persecutory hallucinations and delusions. There are triggers such as places and time of day. Note: I'm not an expert. I just noticed this pattern on PC.

Depression can cause hallucinations and delusions and so can severe anxiety, a variety of medical conditions and substance abuse.

I'd explore all possibilities if I were you. Understanding why you are experiencing hallucinations and delusions will help with treatment. If you have PTSD therapy will help a lot more than antipsychotic medication.

[SparkyCat]

Originally Posted by chickenfoot

They might just want to treat your symptoms and not label you with a psychotic illness as you may not fit the full criteria. Only explanation I can see. I hope you get better and your hallucinations and delusions subside.

Its the only one I can see too but theyve not shied away from any other label nor from medicating me heavily, so I'm just confused.

Originally Posted by Frank34

The key word is delusions. The word psychosis doesn't mean anything by itself.
You mentioned you also have physical symptoms. Are your voices attacking you physically? Also, do you have any idea who your voices are or are they complete strangers?

Yes and partly. I recognise one but not the rest.

Originally Posted by The_little_didgee

Do you have any idea why the doctors think you are having flashbacks? Are you experiencing loss of time (dissociation), and depersonalization?

PTSD is often misdiagnosed or confused with schizophrenia. A psychiatrist once told me it can be very hard to differentiate between the two. It is possible to have both conditions.

PTSD psychotic symptoms seem to have foundation made of anxiety that manifests itself as persecutory hallucinations and delusions. There are triggers such as places and time of day. Note: I'm not an expert. I just noticed this pattern on PC.

Depression can cause hallucinations and delusions and so can severe anxiety, a variety of medical conditions and substance abuse.

I'd explore all possibilities if I were you. Understanding why you are experiencing hallucinations and delusions will help with treatment. If you have PTSD therapy will help a lot more than antipsychotic medication.

They think that I am because sometimes I am - but often what I experience is a hugely long way from anything I've actually experienced. I frequently dissociate and get depersonalization too but again, what I experience bears little resemblance to actual experiences. I'm frustrated because I don't understand their decision and what it means and trying to find out is like getting blood from a stone.

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[chasms]

i mean delusions and hallucinations are psychosis so idk maybe the doctors are just being weird. its weird that theyd attribute it solely to ptsd.
my previous psychiatrist and therapists didnt say i was psychotic because i wasnt honest about my experieces to them but my current one says i have bipolar psychosis (i was finally honest)and at the hospital they KIND OF said that.
some doctors are hesitant about labeling things (my experience at the hospitals) which isnt helpful imo

[Fuzzybear]

This doesnt sound all that helpful to me, but what do I know ("labels" suck at times and, can sometimes be confusing too...)

I hope you get some useful answers

Originally Posted by SparkyCat

Nope, they only ever refer to it as hallucinations. They seem to believe me but not want to rock the boat with a significant medication change, even when what I see and hear leads to self harm. I get frequent lectures about how I'm in control and that the voices can't hurt me but I genuinely don't believe them.

[SparkyCat]

They have stuck to their guns and they're not listening to my pleas to try a different anti psychotic in the hope that it might work.

[Fuzzybear]

I'm sorry to hear this I don't understand this at all

Please keep posting here on pc if it helps at all (I've found some of the insights gained here to be very helpful). You're free to post in any forum . (sometimes the Games forum offers good distractions. I'm glad you're here (I'm also from the UK and so far haven't found what I've been looking for or hoping for to be available under the NHS. But maybe it is, somewhere

(PM me or any moderator or community liason if we can help or offer a listening ear..)

Originally Posted by SparkyCat

They have stuck to their guns and they're not listening to my pleas to try a different anti psychotic in the hope that it might work.

[SparkyCat]

I spoke to my care coordinator about this again. The theory remains that the voices and such are coming out of my emotional state and are in a way the response of my body to my constant efforts to surpress my emotions. In a way it makes sense but it doesn't explain the times where the voices precede the being emotional.

My experience with the NHS is that you have to, sometimes, be a little forceful with them to jam your way into services. Getting services to listen to you...now that's a whole different fight.

[Fuzzybear]

(possible trigger)

I think one of the likely/possible "dangers" with the NHS tends to be that even having been somewhat forceful, the "wrong" doctor, the "wrong" therapist, or possibly even worse, the "wrong" meds (over time..) can cause (usually unintentionally..) .. harm . This isn't meant to trigger or anything, I'm sure you already know this. It seems to be a question of finding the "right" person who has the ability (and time!) to listen, and prescribe correctly too.. But some I'm sure get too tired of the fight. It's a mess, imo

Originally Posted by SparkyCat

I spoke to my care coordinator about this again. The theory remains that the voices and such are coming out of my emotional state and are in a way the response of my body to my constant efforts to surpress my emotions. In a way it makes sense but it doesn't explain the times where the voices precede the being emotional.

My experience with the NHS is that you have to, sometimes, be a little forceful with them to jam your way into services. Getting services to listen to you...now that's a whole different fight.

Originally Posted by Fuzzybear

I'm also from the UK and so far haven't found what I've been looking for or hoping for to be available under the NHS.

me too. the NHS is crap with MH care.

[RisuNeko]

sounds like clear psychotic symptoms. when i have psychotic symptoms even if they're not extreme my psychiatrist refers to them as psychotic symptoms and he has me on 2 antipsychotics.

Are you on any antipsychotics?

[SparkyCat]

Yeah, on 600mg split over two doses of Quetiapine. When I was in hospital they used haloperidol but the intensive home-care team's doctor refused to prescribe polypharmacy for the same problem so it was dropped from being a PRN to not being available to me at all. It's really annoying because especially when combined with Lorazepam, it was really effective - the Lorazepam calmed me down and the Haloperidol controlled the voices for long enough for me to reclaim control. I've been arguing with doctors to allow me the chance to try that again but I'm just hitting a brick wall. Been having a massive problem with my GP over my prescriptions only being 2 days at a time.

[TheFuZZieONE]

I was told by my therapist that they try not to label people with mental illness. Even though medical records are supposed to be considered confidential, diagnosis can still get out to hurt someone's employment records. In fact, my therapist told me she was going to put me down for "depression and anxiety" because it's a "catch all" diagnosis with less stigma attached. I feel the only harm in doing this is if they aren't actually TREATING you for what's really wrong with you.

[SparkyCat]

I know that they try not to label, I had to fight for my BPD diagnosis, even though it was obvious that the team had decided that I likely had it. But the problem is that they're treating it as purely a result of whacked out emotions which feels to me like they're minimising the strength of what I'm experiencing, and the fact that I often experience it when I'm not emotional, and it's the experience that actually causes my emotions to go crazy. It makes me feel isolated and makes it harder for me to reach out because it's basically impossible to find anyone with the same experience.

Desperately want to be tried on different meds but it's such a difficult situation. Just want them to deal with it like it is, not like what they want it to be.