What causes psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder?
Dr. Haupt: Psychotic symptoms include some of the most severe manifestations of bipolar illness. These symptoms commonly include auditory hallucinations and delusions. Auditory hallucinations may consist of hearing voices that engage in conversations with the sufferer or provide running commentaries on the sufferer’s life or they can be completely nonsensical. Delusions are defined as false, unwavering beliefs that are not shared by others. Psychotic symptoms also occur as part of the course of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. When someone has psychotic symptoms for the first time, it can be difficult to determine if they are suffering from schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. Because of this, it is frequently necessary to modify or change a psychiatric diagnosis over the course of someone’s illness. Current evidence blames excess activity of dopamine in the brain for the development of psychotic symptoms. In this theory, excess dopamine activity cau
