Thanks to the media, cinema 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 plagued by stereotypes that can lead to confusion.

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

What is brief psychotic disorder?

Brief psychotic disorder is a state during which a 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 people who are supposedly healthy. The duration of these episodes is very short, lasting from a day to a month at most. Likewise, once concluded, the person can recover completely and without the need for this incident to be repeated.

As discussed above, what distinguishes brief psychotic disorder is that it need not be associated with any other psychotic disorder, nor with the effect of drugs or any organic condition such as a brain tumor.

Despite the fact that it is considered a low-prevalence disorder, i.e. rare, several studies have managed to establish that usually appears in people between 30 and 50 years old and that the probability of it affecting women is twice as high as that of men.

Types of brief psychotic disorder

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

1. Following an identifiable stressor

This subtype of disorder is also known as brief reactive psychosis and is generated by the occurrence of a traumatic, stressful or emotionally charged event, such as surviving an accident or disaster, abuse or the death of a close person.

2. Unidentifiable stress factor

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 experience a brief episode of psychotic disorder shortly after giving birth. Specifically, the highest number of cases have been recorded approximately four weeks after this .

Symptomatology

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

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

1. Delusions

Delusions are a set of beliefs that, although the patient firmly believes in them, have no logical basis, nor can they be demonstrated in any way.

Despite the existence of various types of delusions, in brief psychotic disorder delusions of persecution, of grandeur and reference delusions predominate .

2. Hallucinations

Another common symptom of psychotic disorders is hallucinations. In these, the person perceives in a real way facts or images that have never taken place and in which he or she believes completely, not perceiving them as hallucinations.

3. Disorganized thought and language

During the episode of psychosis, the person abandons any logical relation of his thoughts, appearing the ideas 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 talking incessantly about the same topic, continually moving from one topic to another, and presenting a speech full of inconsistencies.

4. Catatonic behavior

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

5. Other symptoms

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

  • Disorientation .
  • Odd behavior or conduct.
  • Major changes in daily habits.
  • Neglecting 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 combination of various hereditary, biological, environmental and psychological factors .

As far as the hereditary components of brief psychotic disorder are concerned, it has been observed that this disorder is often repeated within the same family. Likewise, the fact of having a family history of psychosis has also been established as a risk factor .

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

On the other hand and according to some psychodynamic currents, the appearance of the brief psychotic disorder would have its origin in an inability of the person to manage his survival mechanisms. This means that the patient does not possess the capacity to endure or overcome a highly stressful event and therefore the disorder emerges as an escape mechanism.

Diagnosis

By means of a thorough psychological evaluation, the clinician must check whether the patient has suffered any of the situations or circumstances that may trigger the brief psychotic disorder, such as 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 a short-term disturbance unrelated to any type of mood disorder, substance use, or psychotic disorder.

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 consumption of toxic substances.

Treatment and prognosis

Given that the disorder should remit in less than a month there is no established treatment for it , being very similar to the intervention performed in acute episodes of schizophrenia.

However, it is necessary to increase and maintain precautions during the time of the episode because the person may become self-injurious, 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 make a thorough observation of the patient$0027s progress.