Tips on Psychosis
Psychosis rarely occurs suddenly. What happens is that symptoms start to appear and worsen over a period of months or even years. Amongst the early symptoms one can notice changes in thought processes and feelings which begin to disable a person before the illness worsens and is identified. If diagnosis is carried out at an early stage, there is a good chance that one can overcome the disability and prevent the acute stage of the illness from setting in.
How can you take care of a family member suffering from psychosis?
Be aware that 30% of psychotic attacks are one-offs. In another 30% of cases, the illness will get worse despite the love, support and treatment provided. Despite this, one must not be discouraged as treatment can control many of the symptoms.
How can you take care of a family member suffering from psychosis?
- Love and support are crucial for recovery.
- Accept the illness and the difficulties that it brings. If you do not accept it, everything you do will result from lack of understanding and unwise decisions.
- Be realistic on what you expect from and from yourself. Otherwise you will give up because the reality will be very different from your expectations. Help to have realistic objectives. For example, if about to sit for exams, do not force to sit for all the exams; discuss with the psychiatrist what would be realistically possible. Depending on the situation, help to apply for an extension of the course or exams.
- Don’t go into denial about the problem. Don’t look for excuses. The more you try to deny the facts, the more difficult it will be for you to understand and help. Some people try to avoid the issue by looking for other reasons, such as: “He’s like that because he was bullied at school.” Or “He’s so arrogant and spoiled”
- If is young, don’t fuss, over-protect or do everything for because this will only make things much worse and will prevent from developing character. Help to strengthen skills and independence. You may have conflicting feelings about whether you can trust ; remember that must progress at own pace and must be given space to go on in life.
- Educate yourself. Learn about the illness and treatment so that that every decision you take is based on good foundations. The more you know about the illness, the better you can manage your life, help to resolve crises and work towards recovery.
- Avoid stress. Create a structured environment that supports you.
- Couples should work as a team. Go on a course together. Look for help together. Talk and discuss. If you don’t, your efforts will be fragmented.
- Don’t nag – the situation will worsen if pressurized. probably already blaming and nagging is the last thing need.
- Prepare for special occasions (whether happy or difficult ones), thereby reducing stress and possibly avoiding another attack of psychosis.
- Be patient with slow progress!
- Encourage and support the treatment.
- Check that the treatment is being followed and medication taken. The patient may not be aware of the real situation and may say “You don’t believe that I feel OK. I don’t need to take the pills.” Calmly and patiently, try to convince that cannot abruptly stop taking the medication because symptoms will worsen. Continue to check that medication is being taken; if you notice any worrying side-effects, discuss these with psychiatrist.
- Be alert for signs of a relapse. They can wake up shouting, fighting, arguing, singing at night, shutting themselves in their room with headphones on.
- Prepare yourself for crisis situations that should do when a crisis happens
- You must understand that you cannot reason or argue with a psychotic patient because the situation will explode into a crisis. Remember that the patient is probably afraid. So, if say (for example) “You want to kill me”, don’t argue .
- Try not to be irritated or angry or show this to. Stay calm.
- Don’t shout.
- Don’t be sarcastic or ridicule. If says: “The police are chasing me”, don’t reply “Of course not! It’s all in your mind. Come on, you don’t need to be afraid.” Don’t say that, because what imagines is real to .
- Don’t contradict . Say: “You’re right. You can hear them. Reality can be different. But I understand you.” Or “I know you can see them, but I cannot.”
- Try to reduce distractions like television.
- Don’t get too close and try to touch .
- Avoid looking into eyes for any length of time.
- Sit down and ask to sit down too.
- Seek professional help, such as the Crisis Intervention Service at Mater Dei hospital. Phone 179 at other times. Phone the social worker from Mount Carmel Hospital assigned to .
Be aware that 30% of psychotic attacks are one-offs. In another 30% of cases, the illness will get worse despite the love, support and treatment provided. Despite this, one must not be discouraged as treatment can control many of the symptoms.
Scientific Article on EFT in Psychology Journal
Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions
Click here (PDF) to read or download this article in the Journal, Psychology. The abstract appears here:
Citation (APA Style): Church, D. (2013). Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions. Psychology, 4 (6).
Abstract Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has moved in the past two decades from a fringe therapy to widespread professional acceptance. This paper defines Clinical EFT, the method validated in many research studies, and shows it to be an “evidence-based” practice. It describes standards by which therapies may be evaluated such as those of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 12 Task Force, and reviews the studies showing that Clinical EFT meets these criteria. Several research domains are discussed, summarizing studies of: (a) psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (b) physiological problems such as pain and autoimmune conditions; (c) professional and sports performance, and (d) the physiological mechanisms of action of Clinical EFT. The paper lists the conclusions that may be drawn from this body of evidence, which includes 23 randomized controlled trials and 17 within-subjects studies. The three essential ingredients of Clinical EFT are described: exposure, cognitive shift, and acupressure. The latter is shown to be an essential ingredient in EFTs efficacy, and not merely a placebo. New evidence from emerging fields such as epigenetics, neural plasticity, psychoneuroimmunology and evolutionary biology confirms the central link between emotion and physiology, and points to somatic stimulation as the element common to emerging psychotherapeutic methods. The paper outlines the next steps in EFT research, such as smartphone-based data gathering, large scale group therapy, and the use of biomarkers. It concludes that Clinical EFT is a stable and mature method with an extensive evidence base. These characteristics have led to growing acceptance in primary care settings as a safe, rapid, reliable, and effective treatment for both psychological and medical diagnoses.
This paper is open access. Click here to download the full article in PDF format.
Click here to enter the Psychology journal's web site.
Scientific Article on EFT in Psychology Journal
Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions
Click here (PDF) to read or download this article in the Journal, Psychology. The abstract appears here:
Citation (APA Style): Church, D. (2013). Clinical EFT as an evidence-based practice for the treatment of psychological and physiological conditions. Psychology, 4 (6).
Abstract Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has moved in the past two decades from a fringe therapy to widespread professional acceptance. This paper defines Clinical EFT, the method validated in many research studies, and shows it to be an “evidence-based” practice. It describes standards by which therapies may be evaluated such as those of the American Psychological Association (APA) Division 12 Task Force, and reviews the studies showing that Clinical EFT meets these criteria. Several research domains are discussed, summarizing studies of: (a) psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression, phobias and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); (b) physiological problems such as pain and autoimmune conditions; (c) professional and sports performance, and (d) the physiological mechanisms of action of Clinical EFT. The paper lists the conclusions that may be drawn from this body of evidence, which includes 23 randomized controlled trials and 17 within-subjects studies. The three essential ingredients of Clinical EFT are described: exposure, cognitive shift, and acupressure. The latter is shown to be an essential ingredient in EFTs efficacy, and not merely a placebo. New evidence from emerging fields such as epigenetics, neural plasticity, psychoneuroimmunology and evolutionary biology confirms the central link between emotion and physiology, and points to somatic stimulation as the element common to emerging psychotherapeutic methods. The paper outlines the next steps in EFT research, such as smartphone-based data gathering, large scale group therapy, and the use of biomarkers. It concludes that Clinical EFT is a stable and mature method with an extensive evidence base. These characteristics have led to growing acceptance in primary care settings as a safe, rapid, reliable, and effective treatment for both psychological and medical diagnoses.
This paper is open access. Click here to download the full article in PDF format.
Click here to enter the Psychology journal's web site.