Approaching psychotic symptoms

It is an alteration in perception. It occurs when a person experiences a sensation, without anything external having produced it. There are different types of hallucinations based on the different senses. Thus, there are auditory, visual, tactile hallucinations...

They occur when very fixed beliefs or ideas are held, which are irrefutable and that other people do not share and whose logic they do not understand. They are, therefore, alterations in thought. Delusions are interpretations that attempt to explain ambiguous and confusing experiences. An example would be reaching the unequivocal conclusion that you are being watched, by the way they look at you on the street.

It is a group of symptoms that refer to alterations in the thought process, this disorganization is also reflected in language and the way in which one expresses oneself. Thus, it can happen that the person quickly changes from one topic to another without much relationship, incoherence in speech or great distractibility. These alterations can greatly hinder the ability of the person who is suffering from them to communicate.

They take place when the person shows strange behaviors, often affected by hallucinations and delusions. For example, when faced with the feeling of being persecuted by a group of criminals, the behavior of hunkering down at home and not going out.

It implies a reduction in interest in relating to other people, less contact with family, friends or colleagues and poses a great risk of social isolation

It occurs when there are difficulties in carrying out pleasant activities, the ability to enjoy the interests or hobbies that a person has is diminished.

It supposes a loss of will. The person finds great difficulties in initiating activities and persisting in them. It can reach the point of negatively affecting self-care and occupational balance

It takes place when there is a lack of affective reactions, an apparent indifference and indolence towards the things that happen around the person or their environment.

It occurs when the spontaneity and flow of conversation decreases, with brief repartee and a reduction in the amount of speech the person speaks.

Since the 1990s, research on cognitive disorders in the

The presence of affective symptoms in psychosis and schizophrenia has been conceived in different ways. On occasions, they may be masked by negative symptoms, such as affective flattening. Other times they can appear as a consequence of rejection and social isolation. Affective disorders, such as depression, can also occur at the same time as psychosis (comorbidity).