What are symptoms of psychosis?
The onset of psychosis may be sudden or gradual, and its symptoms vary from person to person and may change over time. The most characteristic symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are fixed, false beliefs that are not consistent with the person’s culture, and have no basis in fact. Hallucinations are hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, or feeling something that does not actually exist. Other symptoms include changes in thinking patterns (i.e. disconnected thoughts), changes in mood (i.e. difficulty identifying and expressing feelings), very disorganized behaviour (i.e. cannot complete everyday tasks such as dressing appropriately), and thoughts of death or suicide.
