We all NEED to know the signs

Jo was living with health anxiety after losing four people close to her in a short time.

“I’d recently lost two young friends. Then my close neighbour died in his home without anyone’s knowledge. I was shocked but also upset that I hadn’t been able to help him. Soon after, I was told my mum was dying so I travelled to Australia to be with her in her final days. I was on my own with her when she died.

“I came home, went back to my job as a medical secretary and thought I was doing ok but then the anxiety became extreme and terrifying.”

Jo began having delusions. “I became convinced my neighbours were trying to kill me. I thought workers in the flats where I live were poisoning the pipes, so I wouldn’t shower or drink water from the tap.

“I was sure that there were cameras in my light fittings to record my death and put it on the dark web. I was in a continuous state of heightened alertness thinking my life was in danger. I couldn’t function.”

Jo eventually confided in her manager who helped her get support from the Early Intervention team. She now wants people to be able to recognise the signs in someone.

“Talking about it is hard but psychosis needs to be out in the open. It might save someone’s life.”

Signs of psychosis

Hallucinations - where someone sees, hears, smells, tastes or feels things that do not exist outside their mind.

Delusions - where someone has an unshakeable belief in something that is not true. They may believe an individual or organisation is making plans to hurt or kill them, or that they themselves have power or authority. For example, they may think they’re the president of a country or they have the power to bring people back from the dead.

Confused and muddled thinking - this may include rapid and constant speech, switching from one topic to another mid sentence or a sudden loss in train of thought, which brings an abrupt pause to a conversation or activity.

Source: NHS UK (nhs.uk)