Psychotic Disorders

Psychotic disorders are characterised by a break in contact with reality, where the patient is himself/herself unaware that there is something wrong with him/her. There are several different types of psychotic disorders and all of them can range in severity from mild to severe. Most patients suffering from psychotic disorders experience mild or moderate symptoms. The common psychotic disorders include: schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder.

People with psychosis can present with hallucinations, delusions, and thought disorders. Hallucinations can be voices that patients hear that no one else hears, or things that a patient sees, smells or feels that others do not. Delusions are false beliefs that are not part of the person's normal environment and do not change. (A typical delusion involves a paranoid feeling that other people are trying to harm the patient, even if it can be proven that no threat exists). They can have "disorganized thinking” where family members usually report that the person is having trouble connecting their thoughts to activities. This can affect the person's ability to undertake and complete common tasks. 
They can also have loss of pleasure in daily activities that the person used to enjoy. Sometimes, the person withdraws from speaking or any kind of social interaction and can have poor self-care.

Treating psychotic disorders is dependent on the proper diagnosis of the possible causes or contributing factors for the condition. As our understanding of psychotic disorders has advanced, our understanding and development of effective treatments of these disorders has also advanced.

There have been some important advances in anti-psychotic medicines in recent years that can be helpful to patients suffering from a psychotic disorder and we have multiple options available to offer, depending on the severity of the illness and patient profile.