psychosis

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a clinical syndrome characterised by a loss of contact with shared reality, typically manifested as hallucinations — perceptions without external stimuli, most commonly auditory voices — delusions — fixed false beliefs held with certainty despite contradictory evidence — and disorganised thinking and behaviour; psychosis is a symptom rather than a diagnosis and occurs in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder with psychotic features, severe major depression, substance-induced states, medical conditions including epilepsy and autoimmune encephalitis, and as isolated brief psychotic episodes; first-episode psychosis carries particular clinical urgency because early intervention with antipsychotic medication and psychosocial support has been shown to significantly improve long-term outcomes; the causes of psychosis involve interactions between genetic vulnerability, neurodevelopmental factors, and psychosocial stressors including childhood trauma and cannabis use