Question

The vast majority of people who suffer a major depressive episode do not exhibit any psychotic symptoms and they do not get "progressively worse" to the point of developing psychotic symptoms - "psychotic depression" does certainly exist but personally I think it is really a different disorder with similar symptoms.

Schizoaffective disorder is a little different, in that the individual shows a symptom pattern that is very much like schizophrenia but with some features of a mood disorder superimposed. This is not related to major depression in any direct way.

Your girlfriend's physicians and/or therapists are in the best position to determine both diagnosis and her need for medication. Many depressed people do not need medications for the rest of their lives but some probably do. Whether or not that is true, most depressed individuals will benefit from psychotherapy in addition to medication - in fact, the combination of medication plus psychotherapy is often more effective than either alone, in my opinion.

Hi Jared

I agree with minstrel that you need to listen first to the doctors and therapists who are aware of all the contributing factors in your girlfriend's situation.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't help yourselves as well - and studying the Depression Learning Path can help both of you learn more about how to respond positively to this challenge.

I also recommend "Breaking the Bonds" by Dorothy Rowe - an excellent book for the ordinary reader on dealing with depression.

Kathleen

Thanks for the reply I am very happy to at least get more knowledge on what my girlfriend is going through. I believe that it helps both of us to understand what is going on.

Certainly psychotic depression is a recognised condition.

As we know depressed people dream three times as much as non-depressed people. They over-dream as an attempt to clear the brain of unfufilled emotional introspections from the day before. The problem with over-dreaming is that serotonin is not produced during dream-sleep and the 'orientation response' becomes exhausrted. Therefore the depressed individual wakes up exhausted.

When we dream we are allpsychotic. We hear, see and feel things that are not there. The 'language' of both psychosis and dreams is, of course, metaphor.

If someone was so depressed that their over-dreaming spilled out into daytime REM activity they woud be dreamng whilst awake which is a good definition of psychosis.

Mark.

mark tyrrell wrote:If someone was so depressed that their over-dreaming spilled out into daytime REM activity they would be dreamng whilst awake which is a good definition of psychosis.

Well, it may not be a bad analogy for hallucinations but of course psychosis is a lot more than that - involving distinctive symptoms of thought disorder in all cases and various other manifestations like delusions or thought-broadcasting, etc., according to the individual. In some cases, psychosis does not include hallucinations.

However, your statement is a very good definition of hypnogogic and hypnopompic illusions...

[quote="minstrel"][quote="mark tyrrell"]but of course psychosis is a lot more than that - ...other manifestations like delusions or thought-broadcasting, etc., according to the individual.

Is this psychosis or EFT we are talking about here?

Ant

what's EFT?

A thread on EFT / TFT

Here is a thought, I could be wrong. A lot of the symptoms of psychosis deals with your emotion. Parinoid, anxity, worry, and I know there is more. Most are emotional until you get in the fact that people hear voices or see things that are not there. If Dr. Griffen is correct that REM causes psychosis at least that is what I interpreted. Or people experince REM while awake. Well, why does the doctors not focus on reducing REM if they know how. Emotional arousal causes REM then why not train the patience to reduce emotional arousals and change their thinking patterns instead giving them pills all there life. Should the goal be that medication should be temperary. Well, just a thought maybe hoping that if will work. Then again there might be more to it then that. I am no DR. Just an average Joe hoping I am guessing right.

Hi Jared

'Average Joe's' can, I think get to the heart of the matter. I think what you have said is spot on. And, in fact, psychology does seem to be moving in the direction you describe.

Certainly psychosis is a lot more than hallucinations. However thought disorders and thought broadcasting etc. are indicitive of the right hemisphere 'running the show' as occurs in the REM state. These are very dreamlike experiences. Thought disorder also occurs during dreaming.

Something seems logical until we awaken and subject it to critical (more left brain) analysis.

Psychotic patients can be observed REMING and also can become catatonic (immobile) for great periods of time; frozen in the REM state. As we know catalepsy and REM go hand in hand.

Mark

mark tyrrell wrote:'Average Joe's' can, I think get to the heart of the matter. I think what you have said is spot on.
Mark

Thank you Mark I appreciate that.

I hope that soon every Doctor or theripist will one day see what needs to be done. Part of me feels that the people needing to research all this are not doing there job. I am glade to know that at least someone is doing it. I just hope that they will wake up and start doing what is needed to be done for the good of everyone.

A friend of mine said that he saw on a commercial that ZYPREXA, an ani-psychotic, had caused people to die. Although a theory could be that people taking Zyprexa had probably overdosed themselves while psychotic since sometimes psychosis can break through or people skip there medication. I wonder if any of you know the answer. I think it is something to look into if anyone does not know.