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Causes of Psychosis

 Psychosis is a very severe mental condition, characterized by a loss of the ability to deal with reality. The patient may have no contact with reality at all. This is usually caused due to a variety of reasons. Some of the possible causes of psychosis include:

• Persistent Alcohol and Drug Abuse: Alcohol and drugs may affect the functioning of the vital organs and may also cause a change in the chemicals synthesized in the brain. These chemicals are vital for maintaining the functioning of the body and in case they are not produced in the right quantities, it may cause chemical imbalances in the brain. This eventually causes the person to lose their grip on reality.
• Brain Tumors: Benign or malignant growths in the brain could affect the functioning of the brain. These tumors often press on the blood vessels that bring nourishment to the brain, affecting several parts of it. If the brain cells cannot get nourished, they begin to decay and degenerate, eventually causing various symptoms of psychosis.
• Dementia: Dementia is a condition characterized by loss of brain function. The brain can no longer function normally and the memory begins to fail as well. It also affects thinking, judgment and general behavior. Though dementia is usually associated with old age, it may also be present in younger people. Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common diseases characterized by dementia.
• Epilepsy: Epilepsy is another degenerative brain condition that is characterized by seizures and disturbance in brain activity. The causes for epilepsy are also chemical in nature and therefore what causes epilepsy may also cause other degenerative brain diseases such as psychosis and dementia.
• Degenerative Brain Diseases: Diseases which affects the brain directly, such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease are usually associated with psychosis. There are many other diseases, such as chromosomal disorders, that may affect the way in which the brain functions. This can therefore cause psychosis.
• Stroke: A stroke occurs when the blood vessels that bring nourishment to the brain are no longer able to do so. This can destroy part of your brain and prevent you from performing simple functions. If the stroke affects specific parts of the brain, it could cause psychosis.
• Bipolar Disorder: This is a manic depressive disorder, which can cause degeneration of the brain cells. The degeneration of the brain tissues may cause a disruption in the brain functioning and eventually lead to a complete loss of the grip on reality.
• Psychotic Depression: This is a severe depression, characterized by psychotic symptoms. The person usually has depression and may develop other physical and motor symptoms as well. There may be severe chemical imbalance in the brain due to which a person experiences psychosis.

Psychosis often occurs as a symptom of other mental health disorders such as bipolar disorder – in both manic and depressed state, delusional disorder, schizophrenia, borderline and other personality disorders, depression and schizoaffective disorder.