{"id":492,"date":"2025-11-03T06:50:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T06:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/?p=492"},"modified":"2025-11-03T06:50:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T06:50:43","slug":"what-comes-before-psychosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/what-comes-before-psychosis\/","title":{"rendered":"What Comes Before Psychosis?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Psychosis is a mental state where a person loses touch with reality, experiencing hallucinations (seeing\/hearing things that aren&#8217;t there) or delusions (fixed false beliefs). It doesn&#8217;t strike suddenly; it&#8217;s often preceded by a <strong>prodromal phase<\/strong>, a warning period lasting weeks to years. Recognizing these early signs can enable timely intervention, potentially preventing full psychosis or reducing its severity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Prodromal Symptoms<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The prodrome varies by individual but typically includes subtle changes in thinking, mood, behavior, and perception:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cognitive shifts<\/strong>: Trouble concentrating, memory lapses, disorganized thoughts, or suspiciousness (e.g., feeling watched without evidence).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mood and emotional changes<\/strong>: Increased anxiety, depression, irritability, social withdrawal, or flattened emotions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Perceptual disturbances<\/strong>: Mild hallucinations like hearing muffled voices, shadows, or unusual smells; sensitivity to light\/sound.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Behavioral red flags<\/strong>: Declining performance at work\/school, neglect of hygiene, sleep disturbances (insomnia or oversleeping), or isolation from friends\/family.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Attenuated psychotic symptoms<\/strong>: Ideas of reference (believing TV\/radio messages are personal) or magical thinking, but with some insight that they&#8217;re odd.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These mimic stress, depression, or substance use, so they&#8217;re often overlooked. Risk factors heighten vulnerability: family history of schizophrenia, trauma, cannabis\/heavy drug use (especially in teens), or stressors like bereavement\/moving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Clinical High-Risk (CHR) Stage<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In research, this is called &#8220;ultra-high risk&#8221; or CHR state, where 20-35% progress to psychosis within 2-3 years without help. Tools like the CAARMS or SIPS assess prodrome via interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prevention and Help<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Early intervention is key programs like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), family support, or low-dose antipsychotics can halt progression in many cases. Seek a psychiatrist if symptoms persist >1 week or impair daily life. Conditions like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or brief psychotic disorder often follow untreated prodrome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;re not &#8220;going crazy&#8221; these are brain signals needing attention. Professional evaluation (e.g., via mental health hotlines or clinics) offers hope; most with early care recover well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Psychosis is a mental state where a person loses touch with reality, experiencing hallucinations (seeing\/hearing things that aren&#8217;t there) or delusions (fixed false beliefs). It doesn&#8217;t strike suddenly; it&#8217;s often preceded by a prodromal phase, a warning period lasting weeks to years. Recognizing these early signs can enable timely intervention, potentially preventing full psychosis or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":493,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions\/493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindfulsolutionswa.com\/faqs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}