the stress cycle and the emergence of psychosis

high res version of the model can be found here: http://bp0.blogger.com/_L73g-aXfEBc/RxjLM6LzfQI/AAAAAAAAAEM/DAIT3FOiKUc/s1600...


in my video entitled "me and psychosis" i eluded to a stress model that explained how my psychosis emerged. this was something i worked out in my sessions with a cognitive therapist.

a stress model is a picture of how stress is experienced, and working it out enabled me to recognise the stages of stress and take measures to stop it in its tracks before it became intense enough to cause psychosis.

psychosis, btw, is when you perceive (see, hear, etc) things that aren't really there.

the following is the model i eventually came up with. it attempts to link the experience of stress with the experience of psychosis. it is strictly only how i understand my own experience and therefore does not presume to be a catch-all theory of everyone's.

i hope that it might in some way help anyone experiencing psychosis. it may also help anyone interested in managing stress.

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stress is defined as when the demands of a situation exceed the normal resources available to deal with them.

as normal resources were challenged, stress was marked by feelings of vulnerability.

the natural coping response was to then look for threats in my environment.

this active monitoring of my environment was marked by increased sensual acuity, as my body got ready to successfully fight or flee.

naturally, this set of responses carries on until the demands are met or escaped. however, the demands of my situation exceeded all available resources and escape was not an option, and so the cycle repeated itself over and over.

when this happened the stages of the cycle were marked by behaviour peculiar to stress overload; the stress carried on increasing far beyond my ability to cope with it.

vulnerability became a mental withdrawl amounting to an unwillingness to further investigate the situation for change.

this in turn lead to an impoverished, then unreal evaluation of the situation.

sensual acuity became an increased tendency to read in to ambiguous details in the environment and, feeling extremely vulnerable by this point, perceive them as threats. also, i had an increased tendency to monitor myself, as a means of fending off potential attack.

these two aspects of sensual acuity then, as the cycle continued to feed their intensity, combined and emerged as an experience of reading my own thoughts in, for instance, background noise which in turn increased stress further as it began to support my delusions. that is, i began to listen to my own thoughts as if they were coming from my environment.

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now that i have this model i can address my feelings of stress before i get to the stage of psychosis. i can put them in perspective now i think, and have addressed the situations of my life that were causing it. i tend not to avoid stress altogether, as to my mind a lack of risk taking can lead to decreased life opportunities which, ironically, lead to the largest amount of stress. for me, it's about achieving balance between stability and risk, and knowing what i want. i know this is not an opportunity that everyone has though. i have also taught myself what does and does not constitute evidence. i also recognise that life is full of challenges and i'll undoubtedly be tested again.

Category:

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Tags:

• psychosis
• stress
• psychology
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• dynamics

[Urza26]

I like the video. You have the natural voice of a teacher or an orator. PLEASE INCREASE THE SIZE OF YOUR TEXTS IN THE FUTURE AS I REALLY HAVE DIFFICULTY SEEING THEM. Other than that, good job!

[squidboot]

there's a link to a high res version of the diagram in the info section for the vid. hope this helps :)

[JonathanWKnight]

PLEASE NOTICE THIS MESSAGE

...the text is too small to read in your submission...increase its size to the point that pixelation does not occur

[squidboot]

there's a link to a high res version of the diagram in the vid's info section. hope this is useful :)

[wisdomtrek]

The generosity of spirit thusly represented by your work shows a compassionate soul. See there is SOME good aspects to suffering, it invariably tenderizes the heart. Just trying to find some semblance of balance in the world.

[ozmaorigrl]

Thank you so much for sharing, as a student, amonst all my psychology books studying for my exams, this has given me the most information! I had an "Ahhhhhh, now I get it!" moment while watching you video..:0) Thanks soooo much!

[zodiaksteve]

Very well explained, made a great deal of sense. You really seem to have benefitted from the CBT, it would have been nice to hear more about the coping strategies you were using

[Asschafing]

great video. I've battled psychosis for the last 2 years after doing numerous drugs. your model fits my experience perfectly. however some of my delousions persist, and as you get deeper into psychosis i've noticed that I'll falsely claim something to be a delusion, whereas, in fact, it is either truth, or something that is yet unproven.

[AnimaliaHolocaust]

Interesting.. :)

I don't think I'm at the stage of psychosis.. but things ARE getting out of hand I'll bookmark this!

[1schwererziehbar1]

this is a great theory of one kind of connection between stress and psychosis.

thanks for sharing!

[bachfor]

Reflective (observer/listener) What IS a YouTube Viewer in this case?! Thanks for your efforts. Don't want to be patronizing. It's always a help when one hears/listens/sees an example of trying. Me, too, I'm trying. ...and I know some others.

[MysticTasha16]

Very well done and insightful! I've often suspected that the voices heard during psychosis were one's own thoughts not being recognized as one's thoughts.

[ecaple11]

@BlondieGirl2287 what "legal" drug