Brief Psychotic Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Thanks to the media, film and television, the collective imagination of society has established, more or less clearly, what a psychotic disorder consists of and what happens to the person who suffers it. However, these beliefs are riddled with stereotypes that can be misleading.

Psychotic disorders or psychosis are those mental disorders in which the person experiences impaired ability to think, react emotionally, and interpret reality. However, this disorder can appear briefly in previously healthy people, being classified as a brief psychotic disorder.

• Related article: "The 5 differences between psychosis and schizophrenia"

What is Brief Psychotic Disorder?

Brief Psychotic Disorder is a state during which the person experiences a series of psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking and speech among many others.

However, unlike other psychotic disorders, Brief Psychotic Disorder appears suddenly and unexpectedly in presumed healthy people. The duration of these episodes is very short, and can last between a day and a month at the most. Also, once completed,

the person can fully recover and without the need for this incident to repeat itself.

As discussed above, what distinguishes brief psychotic disorder is that it does not have to be associated with any another psychotic disorder, as well as the effect of drugs or any organic condition such as a tumor cerebral.

Although it is considered a low prevalence disorder, that is to say, rare, several studies have found that usually appears in people between 30 and 50 years and that it is twice as likely to affect women as men.

• You may be interested: "The 8 types of Psychotic Disorders"

Types of brief psychotic disorder

Three subtypes of brief psychotic disorders have been detected, which can be classified according to the cause of the disorder.

1. Following an identifiable stressor

This subtype of disorder it is also known as brief reactive psychosis and it is generated by the appearance of a traumatic, stressful event or of great emotional impact; such as surviving an accident or catastrophe, abuse or the death of a close person.

2. Unidentifiable stressor

In this subtype it is not possible to identify or specify the reason that has caused the brief psychotic disorder in the person.

Following childbirth

According to some research, 1 in 10,000 women experiences an episode of brief psychotic disorder shortly after delivery. Specifically, the largest number of cases have been registered about four weeks after this.

• You may be interested: "Puerperal or postpartum psychosis: causes, symptoms and treatment

Symptoms

The brief psychotic disorder buy you a large part of its symptoms with many other psychotic alterations, however for it to be classified as such it is necessary that these symptoms only remain between a day and a month. In the event that they last longer, or more than six months, the possibility that it is any other disorder will be considered.

The symptoms present in brief psychotic disorder range from delusions, hallucinations or disorientation, to catatonic behavior and disturbances in attention and memory.

1. Delusions

Delusions make up a series of beliefs that, although the patient firmly believes in them, do not have any kind of logical basis, nor can they be demonstrated in any way.

Although there are different types of delusions, in brief psychotic disorder delusions of persecution, grandeur and delusions of reference predominate.

2. Hallucinations

Also, another of the most common symptoms within psychotic disorders are hallucinations. In these, the person actually perceives events or images that have never taken place and in which he believes completely, not perceiving them as hallucinations.

• Related article: "Hallucinations: definition, causes, and symptoms"

3. Disorganized thinking and language

While the episode of psychosis lasts, the person abandons any logical relationship of his thoughts, ideas appearing in a chaotic and disorganized way.

As a result of this disorganized thinking, the patient experiences alterations in the processes of attention and memory, as well as great difficulties in language and speech.

Some examples of these symptoms are incessantly talking about the same topic, continually moving from one topic to another, and presenting a speech full of inconsistencies.

4. Catatonic behavior

Catatonic behavior can include a large number of motor disturbances. These disorders include paralysis or immobility, hyperactivity, restlessness or excitement or mutism. Likewise, stereotyped movements, echolalia or echopraxia are also included.

5. Other symptoms

In addition to all the symptoms mentioned above, there are a number of behaviors or behaviors directly related to this type of disorder. These signs include:

• Disorientation.
• Strange behaviors or behaviors.
• Major changes in daily habits.
• Neglect hygiene and personal care.
• Inability to make decisions.

Causes

Although the specific causes of this disorder have not yet been established, it is hypothesized that it is the result of the union of various hereditary, biological, environmental and psychological factors.

Regarding the hereditary components of brief psychotic disorder, it has been observed that this usually recurs within the same family. Also, the fact having a family history of psychosis has also been established as a risk factor.

However, having a family history of both psychosis and this same disorder is not a sufficient condition to suffer from it. For this, it is necessary that the hereditary factor is accompanied by stressful factors or contexts that facilitate the appearance of this.

On the other hand and according to some psychodynamic currents, the appearance of brief psychotic disorder would have its origin in an inability of the person to manage their survival mechanisms. This means that the patient does not have the ability to withstand or overcome a highly stressful event so the disorder arises as an escape mechanism.

Diagnosis

Through a thorough psychological evaluation, the clinician should check whether the patient has suffered any of the situations or circumstances that can trigger Brief Psychotic Disorder, such as What physical, psychological or sexual abuse, experience of a traumatic event, presence of a crime, etc.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), this disorder is classified as an alteration of short duration not related to any type of mood disorder, substance use or disorder psychotic.

In order to make a reliable diagnosis of Brief Psychotic Disorder, the clinician must ensure that the person meets the following requirements:

• Presence of one or more psychotic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations, negative symptoms, etc.).
• Duration of symptoms from one day to one month after which the person has fully recovered.
• The symptoms are not explained by the presence of other psychotic disorders or by the use of toxic substances.

Treatment and prognosis

Since the disorder should subside in less than a month there is no established treatment for this, being very similar to the intervention performed in acute episodes of schizophrenia.

However, it is necessary to increase and maintain precautions for the duration of the episode since the person may self-harm, harm others or even, commit suicide.

Also, sometimes the appearance of a brief psychotic disorder is a warning sign that the person may be developing any other type of serious mental disorder, so it is vitally important to carry out an exhaustive observation of the evolution of the patient.