Is Your Parent Dealing
Are you caring for your parent with diagnosed or suspected psychosis?
This experience can leave you feeling hopeless and isolated especially if you are the one taking care of your mum or dad who’s currently dealing with psychosis.
The following information may help you understand what your parent is going through and how you can look after yourself.
What is Psychosis?
Psychosis is a condition that affects the way the brain processes information. It is a temporary loss of contact with reality in which the individual displays obvious changes in personality, sometimes seeing and hearing things that aren’t real and experiencing delusions that are fixed false beliefs.
Adult Psychosis is not uncommon but is often confused with/for other behavioural and/or mental health conditions. Symptoms of psychosis can be temporary and can be treated effectively with antipsychotic medications and therapy. Some conditions such as Schizophrenia, in which psychotic symptoms occur, can be long-term.
Symptoms of an Adult or a Parent with Psychosis
Symptoms of psychosis in adults vary depending on their age. Some of the earliest indications may present themselves during their late teens or their early twenties. In rare cases, some people past 40 start to experience signs of psychosis.
As adolescents grow into adults and well into their years, their symptoms may include:
- Changes in personality such as social withdrawal and isolation
- Changes in emotions such as uncharacteristic anxiety, anger or moodiness
- Challenges in sleeping such as insomnia or having few deep periods of sleep
- Disordered thinking – slow, muddled, disrupted thoughts which may be expressed through speech
- Disordered behaviour – unusual, inappropriate, extreme or risky actions
- Delusions – fixed false beliefs that can’t be changed by evidence; for instance, the person can be convinced that “they are God” or that “someone is trying to kill them” despite there being no real reason for this belief
- Hallucinations – hearing voices or otherwise sensing things that aren’t real; this can include seeing, smelling, tasting and hearing things that others can’t sense
- Occurring social or professional problems at work
- Tendency to seek or depend on illegal substances such as alcohol and drugs
What Causes Psychosis?
- Hereditary – genetic predisposition; sometimes runs in the family
- Biochemical – shortage or excess of certain chemicals in the brain
- Lifestyle – stress, lack of sleep, substance abuse such as alcohol, marijuana and LSD
- Trauma – experiences such as death, war or sexual assault
- Psychological – a symptom of mental challenges such as schizophrenia, bipolar, severe depression or Alzheimer’s Disease
Diagnosis of Psychosis
Adult psychosis is not rare. Almost 1% of the world’s population experiences psychosis as a result of their genetic disposition alone. If you think your mum or dad is showing signs of psychosis, get your parent to a GP or a Psychiatrist to get a diagnosis. A diagnosis involves systematic interviews alongside ruling out other behavioural and mental health conditions.
Treatment for a Parent with Psychosis
Treatment with antipsychotics is the most common therapy for people with psychosis or a psychotic condition. However, the medication does not treat or cure the underlying condition that triggered the psychosis. Additional therapy should be sought to address the underlying triggers. This may require a lifestyle change, for instance, stopping the use of recreational drugs, trauma therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or another form of therapy and/or treatment tailored to the individual.
The first step is a diagnosis by a GP or Psychiatrist where they will prescribe an appropriate treatment plan to the patient. This may also include the prescription of antipsychotic medication to stop the psychosis and connect the person back to reality.
How to help your Parent with Psychosis
As a child, it may be hard to see your mum or dad experiencing mental health challenges such as psychosis. The best way to care for them is to seek professional help by finding an appropriate service through a GP, a mental health phone line, or a mental health service. From there, you can help your parent by supporting them through the care plan that their GP will advise.
How to help yourself
Having your parent with psychosis can be hard to accept. Living with and caring for them may even be more exhausting, frustrating, confusing and isolating. But you don’t have to go through it alone.
HelpingMinds® offers free and confidential support to people who are caring for someone living with mental health challenges. We offer a variety of individual and group services such as free counselling, support groups, and rest and revive exercises. Our advocacy of mental health awareness and supporting mental health carers in WA also drive us to conduct school holiday programs, family programs and youth programs to promote 0ur causes.
Get Support from HelpingMinds®
Would you like to know more about free and confidential mental health carer services and how we can support you? Please feel free to contact HelpingMinds® via the form below or on (08) 9427 7100. For one of our team to get back to you, we will require your email address and/or phone number. Please know all information provided will be treated completely confidential and in line with our privacy policy.
