Psychosis is when people lose some contact with reality. This might involve seeing or hearing things that other people cannot see or hear (hallucinations) and ...SkiptomaincontentHomeMentalhealthMentalhealthconditionsPsychosisBacktoPsychosisOverview-PsychosisPsychosisiswhenpeoplelosesomecontactwithreality.Thismightinvolveseeingorhearingthingsthatotherpeoplecannotseeorhear(hallucinations)andbelievingthingsthatarenotactuallytrue(delusions).SymptomsofpsychosisThe2mainsymptomsofpsychosisare:hallucinations – whereapersonhears,seesand,insomecases,feels,smellsortastesthingsthatdonotexistoutsidetheirmindbutcanfeelveryrealtothepersonaffectedbythem;acommonhallucinationishearingvoicesdelusions – whereapersonhasstrongbeliefsthatarenotsharedbyothers;acommondelusionis someonebelieving there'saconspiracytoharmthemThecombinationofhallucinationsanddelusionalthinkingcancauseseveredistressandachangeinbehaviour.Experiencingthesymptomsofpsychosisisoftenreferredtoashavingapsychoticepisode.WhentoseekmedicaladviceYoushouldseeaGPimmediatelyifyou'reexperiencingsymptomsofpsychosis. It'simportantpsychosisistreatedassoonaspossible,asearlytreatmentcanbemoreeffective.TheGPmayaskyousomequestionstohelpdeterminewhat'scausingyourpsychosis.Theyshouldalsoreferyoutoamentalhealthspecialistforfurtherassessmentandtreatment.FindoutmoreaboutdiagnosingpsychosisGettinghelpforothersIfyou'reconcernedaboutsomeoneyouknow,youcouldcontactaGPforthem.Ifthey'rereceivingsupportfromamentalhealthservice,youcouldcontacttheirmentalhealthworker.Ifyouthinktheperson'ssymptomsaresevereenoughtorequireurgenttreatmentandcouldbeplacingthematpossiblerisk,youcan:takethemtothenearest A&E,iftheyagreecalltheirGPor localout-of-hoursGPcall999andaskforanambulanceAnumberof mentalhealthhelplinesarealsoavailablethatcanofferexpertadvice.FindoutmoreabouthowtogethelpforothersIt's sometimespossibletoidentifythecauseofpsychosisasaspecificmentalhealthcondition,suchas:schizophrenia – aconditionthatcausesarangeofpsychologicalsymptoms,includinghalluci