Most people are aware there’s still an ongoing stigma toward mental health and psychiatric disorders.
However, when we first consider addressing these stigmas, many speak mainly about anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are two disorders that still receive stigma, but not in the same way as other classifications of psychiatric disorders do, or even in the same way as some of the disorders directly linked to anxiety and/or depression.
The classification of psychiatric disorders that arguably receive the most negative stigma is psychotic disorders.
Psychotic disorders, also known as psychosis, are defined by having symptoms like hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations can be visual, auditory, or sensory experiences that are not occurring in reality. Delusions are false, often seemingly irrational, beliefs that do not align with reality.
“The word psychosis is used to describe conditions that affect the mind, where there has been some loss of contact with reality,” according to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). “When someone becomes ill in this way, it is called a psychotic episode. During a period of psychosis, a person’s thoughts and perceptions are disturbed, and the individual may have difficulty understanding what is real and what is not.”
These disorders include schizophrenia, delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and substance-induced psychotic disorder. Symptoms of psychosis can sometimes occur in people with anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and bipolar disorder.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), three in 100 people will experience psychosis at some point in their lifetime; this can be if they do or don’t have a psychotic disorder. The onset of psychotic disorders is usually seen between a person’s late teens to mid-twenties, encompassing a large portion of college students.
Most psychosis and psychotic disorders can be treated; treatments include medication, cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy, and/or psychoanalytic therapy. Treatment can also involve treating a possible source of psychosis which can consist of other mental health disorders, infection, or, more commonly, epileptic psychosis.
Though treatment options exist for those experiencing short-term or ongoing psychosis, seeking that treatment can be tricky. There are issues of cost and accessibility of doctors, but there’s also the stigma against psychotic disorders and psychosis, which deter some from seeking treatment.
Suppose a person believes they may have schizophrenia but has grown up in an environment that classifies people with psychotic disorders as “crazy” or tries to distance themselves from those with the disorders. In that case, they may be hesitant to accept that they may have a psychotic disorder themselves. The fear of being on the receiving end of that stigma and criticism may prevent some from seeking immediate treatment, which can lead to more significant health concerns.
The stigma against those who have psychotic disorders does not just affect those with the disorders but everyone. You may care for someone who experiences psychosis, or you may one day experience it yourself. The othering of people with psychotic disorders puts them in harm’s way due to social perception.
Mental health disorders aren’t jokes, and words do have an impact. Before passing judgment on those with a hidden health issue, such as mental health disorders, consider how that can impact you, others, and the community around you.