In the past remarkable five years, I overcame a psychosis twice. It is a mental illness where you have lost touch with reality. While many people do not know what psychosis is, or what it feels like, many people suffer from this mental illness, just like depression or a burnout. I am going to explain what psychosis truly is and how you can overcome a mental illness like a psychosis.
I want to point out that this is applicable for any mental illness, not just a psychosis. The first psychosis happened when I was 17, and the second one a few months ago. It has been a real rollercoaster of happy and sad times. But I have learned so much from it, and every year my understanding about psychosis grows, and I become better at dealing with it. The reason that I had a psychosis is because it is in my genes. My brain had an imbalance in neurochemicals, like dopamine.
What is Psychosis? An Explanation
Many people know what a burnout or depression is. With a burnout, you become overly stressed because of work, for example. A depression happens when you aren’t content with your life or lost your direction in life. A psychosis can be a combination of both. Because you experience an imbalance in your brain, you become overwhelmed by external stimuli.
Then you start to make connections with these stimuli, and you experience hallucinations or delusions. You could be hearing voices that aren’t there. People in a psychosis have a wide range of ideas and thoughts that are surreal. You start thinking and believing in things that aren’t real. This often happens for weeks or months. But besides from this period, a person who experiences a psychosis is a completely normal person.
When you speak to people who suffer from psychosis, you can’t even notice that they suffer from it. Because the mind is such a complex thing, the reason people suffer from psychosis is still undiscovered. But I think people who are highly sensitive to their surroundings can experience this more often.
Essential Steps: What to Do During a Psychosis
The most important thing to do in a psychosis is to talk to your family or friends about it. Isolation is very bad when you experience a psychosis. You need to talk about your thoughts and which things are real and which things are not. You need to have some sort of support system of people who can take care of you. During both of my experiences with psychosis, the moment I told my family about my thoughts, I came back to reality and recovery. It was like I was awakening from a long dream of illusion. You also need to speak to a doctor and get professional help. Professional intervention is crucial during a psychotic episode. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), early intervention and support are vital for recovery from psychosis.
The second thing you need is to remove all noise from your life. Turn off the TV, radio and stop scrolling on social media. I noticed that these things fed my fake thoughts. I thought that some higher power, like god, was sending me signals through this noise. Removing these things really made a massive impact to my recovery from psychosis.
Here are some key actions to take:
- Stop consuming things, reading new information in books, and stop watching Youtube videos.
- Walk every day.
- Exercise regularly.
- Start creating things.
- Take a big reset on your life and bring more peace and rest to your life.
My Personal Journey: How I Overcame My Psychosis
Overcoming my psychosis wasn’t tied to one single solution. It was a combination of things that led to my fast recovery. The first episode took way longer, and was more problematic. The second one was way shorter, because I knew how to deal with it better. I knew that I needed to remove all distractions, to keep talking to my family, and to bring simplicity to my life. I knew that I needed to stop consuming things that would feed on my fake thoughts, and that I needed to start creating things to get the thoughts out of my head. If you are someone who suffers from this mental illness, or depression, or a burnout, these things will definitely help you with your recovery.
Despite that it is a terrible mental disease, I learned a lot from it, and I got a lot of life experience in return. It isn’t all just doom and gloom regarding psychosis. If you overcome it, you become a better and more experienced person. You become better at overcoming difficult obstacles, and you learn how to bring more joy to your life.
Building a Sustainable Life After Psychosis
Having a psychosis isn’t a joke. It is one of the worst mental illnesses to deal with. A broken arm or leg can be easily fixed by a doctor. But if you have a psychosis, it takes years to recover. You often need to take medicine and talk to a psychologist. You have to deal with a lot of anxiety and stress, and you need to build up your social life gradually.
However, nothing is permanent, and you can definitely grow out of your psychosis. You really learn what works and what doesn’t. If I ever get another episode of psychosis, I will know exactly what to do to overcome it. But it still is hard to do it. The mind is a very complex thing, and there will be times when you feel depressed or hopeless, not knowing what to do to feel better.
But when you do overcome the obstacles, you get better and become more experienced every time. It really is a trial and error process. You find out which habits improve your wellbeing, and which habits only have a negative impact on your life.
In order to build a more sustainable life after psychosis, here are some helpful practices:
- Remove distractions from your life when necessary.
- Take rest and meditate when you feel overwhelmed.
- Walking and exercise really helps to get the thoughts out of your head.
- Working with your hands, like woodworking or painting, really helps with this too.
Over the years, you will learn more habits that will help you guide through life. These habits don’t just work for people with psychosis. Everyone can benefit from doing these things.
Understanding the Reason Behind Psychosis
It still is a very vague symptom. In some eastern cultures, people believe that it is some kind of spiritual awakening. Others think it is just an error in the neurochemicals of the brain. The real reason behind a psychosis has yet to be uncovered. It is a combination of genetics, environmental, and biological factors. But I think we should talk more about it, so that we can better understand what psychosis is. Besides that, there are a lot of people who suffer from it. Many people who have or had it never talk about it in public. It is sad, because it could be very helpful to talk about it more, just like a depression or burnout.
Psychosis is a part of my life, and I can still work on my dreams and live a good life with it. I can socialize with people and enjoy the little things in life. It gives me a lot of life experience, which makes me grateful for life. I really enjoy a walk in nature, listening to the birds chirping and sometimes enjoying the silence. I think it has made me feel more connected with my mind and body, and with nature. Every sad moment also brings moments of joy and happiness. With every downside, there is always an upside. Besides, everyone suffers sometimes, in order to thrive. It is part of our nature, and we should accept it as it is. Fighting against it will only work against us. Letting go is something that really helps me.
Boosting Recovery: Finding Your Creative Anchor
The thing that helps me the most right now in my recovery from psychosis is creating things. Sometimes I create sketches or paintings. Other times I take walks and photograph trees and landscapes. I also make music with friends. A combination of different creative outlets really helps in the progress of recovery. I remember that when I was feeling down after my psychosis, I started to make a painting, and it instantly boosted my mood. It really has a positive impact on your mental health, as you create something that is tangible and yours.
The creation process really helps to be more present. The best way to recover from a psychosis is to be more present. You need to slow down the stream of thoughts. Creating and meditating are one of the best ways to do that. In order to practice this in the best way possible, try to do one thing at a time, and immerse yourself with that task.
This is where deep work comes in. In order to become present, you need to focus. I don’t really know why it makes me feel better, it just does. When I create, I am in a state of being. I let my actions uncover my state of presence. Life is truly a gift, and we are meant to express ourselves by creating. At first, it is something that you do to feel better. But as you go on, you realize that it is more than that. It is a way of making your life’s work.
Most Important Steps
To round things up, the most important steps you can take to overcome psychosis are:
- Remove mental noise.
- Start meditating to become more present.
- Take walks and regularly exercise.
- Talk to family and friends.
- Have a creative outlet.
I really hope you found this article helpful. Let me know about your situation and how you overcome obstacles like this one. Share your life experiences and what you learned from them.
If you want to learn more, check out my blog posts called Walking Meditation and Creating a Quiet Space.
Also, check out the video I made around this topic.
I hope that you have an inspirational day,
Mart Bergsma
