psychotic symptoms with depression

I am currently recovering from a severe depression with suicide ideation in which i apparently had psychotic symptoms. Has anyone else had psychosis without knowing what it was until speaking to your therapist about what was going on? and does anyone have any advice as to what to look for in oneself when psychosis starts?

psychotic depression can encompass a wide variety of symptoms. i treat people with "psychotic depressions" a lot. Depending on what symptoms people are experiencing, different medications will be used. People will often respond very quickly to antipsychotic meds (even within days). The deeper depressive symptoms may take longer to fully resolve but that does not mean you cannot get feeling much much better relatively quickly.

As others here have commented, a real psychotic episode, which is a very serious event, must occur in order for their to be a true 'bipolar I' diagnosis. The diagnostic 'bar' for labling someone as 'manic depressive' must be high, because of the risks of the medications that are needed to control this illness, among other factors.

I think you would mean depression with psychotic features and like most psychiatric disabilities it lasts a lifetime as does the need for medication. Recovery rates depend on the individual person. As I've posted medications that are more specifically targeted to the right receptors and will have a better response rate and safer side effect profile are in development so treatment will improve in the coming years.

When I was younger before my diagnosis I had similar psychotic features and I was treated for major depression with psychotic features. I was treated with anti depressants and anti pyschotics. Unfortunately the anti d's triggered rapid cycling and lithium was then added to the mix. If it helps I no longer hear voices, it stopped around age 20. Now during an episode I have classic bipolar features.

The best I can recommend is that you have an honest conversation with your psychiatrist concerning your symptoms and the need for an anti-psychotic being added to your current medications. You also didn't indicate how long you have been on any of these medications. Yes, there are side effects with all medications and different people may have different ones or none at all, but side effects usually dissipate after taking the medication for a certain period of time.

I have suggested she go and talk to a professional and possibly get on med. for depression. She is 20 years old and in college. Today she told me she felt like she was having a psychotic breakdown.What is this kind of breakdown?

Bipolar with psychotic features is not that rare. When a person has bipolar with psychotic features they have psychosis specifically during moodswings. When a person has schizoaffective as I do they experience psychosis all the time (as I did before my current recovery). The whole spectrum of bipolar to schizophrenia is linked up and they are just learning how.

They can occur in any location within the brain. They are often incidental findings with no symptoms and with no consequences. However, when they do cause symptoms, that could include headaches, seizures, and in some rare instances psychiatric problems. If someone has a headache and an arachnoid cyst, just given the statistical probabilities, they are more likely to have a headache unrelated to the cyst than to have headaches caused by the cyst.

schizophrenoform disorder, r/o psychotic disorder NOS, r/o MDD chronic with psychotic features, r/o alcohol abuse, partner relation problem Axis 2: no diagnosis with paranoid traits Axis 3 deferred Several months after discharge diagnosis (not by doctor who gave second opinion) amended to Axsis 1: MDD, in remission, r/o depression due to general medical condition (vestibular injury), adjustment disorder with depression/anxiety, partner relation problems, alcohol abuse.

If in some way you are aware what is occurring is not real it might potentially be part of anxiety disorder but a psychiatrist would have to make that distinction. Psychosis can occur in depression with psychotic features and sometimes in severe depression and other criteria as well. There is the concern of stigmatization as regards seeing a psychiatrist which is understandable but it would be worthwhile to follow up as they could provide greater help with this.

Then one night I stayed awake all night and that was it, I plunged into a very severe depression. I could not hold down water, struggled with an antidepressant for one month also with zanax. It was not getting any better, really it was very severe and I became like a skeleton and very irrational. I changed to a top pshychiatrist she gave me anti psychotic zyprexa 5 mg +anti depressant + wham within 4 days I was completely normal! Now for maintenance (3years down the line) I just take 1.

And if you have suicidal urges you need to see a psychiatrist right away. Depression with psychotic features is when a person has psychotic thoughts only during mood fluctuations. With schizoaffective disorder psychotic thoughts or auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) can occur at any time. But as to how to look at it I'd say look at it as I do, I am a person with a psychiatric disability and I need treatment as part of my recovery.

Wow you guys are waaaaay off melancholic depression is a more severe form of depression which is psychotic in nature. It gets it's name because it is depression coupled with an extreme apathy and inability to feel joy when say complimented etc. It's always worse in the mornings. I highly recommend that if you think you have this you speak to a dr immediately as some people (myself Included) suffer from psychotic episodes of intense fear and rage.

Antipsychotics are often used as mood stabilizers, and some of them are really very effective for that purpose. Many patients who have never had psychotic symptoms (patients with depression which has not responded to just an antidepressant, for instance) are finding that the addition of an "atypical" or newer antipsychotic can be helpful. This is an example of the problem with names in pharmacology.

The only form of depression that can cause psychotic episodes, is Bi-polar Depressive Disorder but typical clinical depression that can result from severe anxiety, is not in the psychosis category

Anyhow, onto my question... In addition to depression, I struggle with anxiety and take 1 mg Ativan as needed, up to 3x/day. The Ativan helps with the anxiety but I've noticed if I have to take it for a few days in a row it really seems to affect my mood, in that I often feel even more depressed than I did before taking it.

Within FEP patients, decreases in cortisol and the cortisol/DHEAS ratio over time were directly related to the improvement in depression . . . negative . . . and psychotic symptoms . . . . Perceived stress significantly correlated with DHEAS . . . and the cortisol/DHEAS ratio . . . in controls, but not patients, possibly reflecting an impaired hormonal response to stress in FEP patients. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.

It sounds like he possibly has severe depression. Some people with severe depression also have psychotic features (depression with psychotic features). It could be worth considering what happened a month ago to trigger this current state. I think encourage him to see a psychiatrist and perhaps look to follow that up with psychotherapy. You could ask him if he would like you to attend his appointment with him as a support person, etc.

I was diagnosed with Depression with psychotic features, not any Bipolar disorder Anyway I was on Prozac with Wellbutrin, then had a relapse and they took me off both and started me on Abilfy only. Is this a normal procedure or should I also be on some low dose antidepressant in your opinion ? Thank you very much for your time.

I know of four bipolar 1 with or without psychotic features, bipolar 2, bipolar nos, and cyclothimia. With bipolar 1 you get full blown mania and major depression, with bipolar 2 you get hypomania and major depression. cyclothimia fluctuates between minor depression and hypomania. Bipolar nos is where they put you when you obviously show some symptoms of bipolar disorder but they do not know which classification to put you in.

I find an increase in paranoid / delusional thinking and other psychotic/ anxiety symptoms too just before a period. The GP wanted to treat it with a contraceptive injection, but I refused and am now trying to control it with alternative methods, although I do take an antipsychotic for bipolar anyway which must help a bit. My CPN said that she has come accross several examples where this has happened to people, so you're not alone.

Psychotic symptoms with depression

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