The Slippery Slope of Psychosis
Why What You Don’t Know About CPTSD Can Hurt You
Can CPTSD lead to insanity?
What’s insanity?
When most people think of insanity, they’re often thinking of psychosis.
Can CPTSD include psychosis?
Yes.
Can CPTSD that doesn’t initially include psychosis eventually worsen to include psychosis?
Yes.
Who, according to a recent study, are the people most likely to go on to develop psychotic symptoms along with PTSD (5%) or CPTSD (41%)?
People with developmental trauma.
This means people who experienced significant and prolonged trauma in their very early developmental years —
Like people with personality disorders and people with dissociative disorders.
Are significantly more likely to go on to develop psychotic symptoms than people in the general population.
So, if you’re someone with developmental trauma who later experienced a single event trauma (this is commonly known as PTSD), you have a 5% chance of also experiencing psychotic symptoms.
If you’re someone with developmental trauma who later experienced prolonged trauma (this is most often known as CPTSD) you have a 41% chance of developing psychotic symptoms.
Which isn’t insignificant.
So, what is psychosis?
The problem is that most people think of psychosis as the crazy guy babbling to himself on the street corner. When psychosis is actually a spectrum of positive (something added) and negative (something taken away) symptoms that, to most people, wouldn’t even be considered indicative of psychosis.
Such as:
Positive Symptoms
Positive symptoms of psychosis mean something is added to normal behavior. Voices are added. Paranoia is added. These added symptoms often take the form of:
Delusions: Feeling like you’re being watched or plotted against.
Gang stalking, anyone?
Also, delusions: Believing you have special powers or are receiving secret information or messages.
Hello, empaths and twin flames.
Hallucinations: Sensing (seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling) something that’s not there. These things often go unnoticed because they’re perceived only by the individual. It’s only when hallucinations become overt —
The crazy guy babbling to himself on the street corner.
That people begin to take notice.
Disorganized Behavior: This can include catatonia (complete withdrawal) but can also include inability to complete tasks or going off on tangents. It can include inability to provide self-care or instances of inappropriate affect —
Like when someone laughs as they’re telling you about their dying father.
The point is that the positive symptoms of psychosis can look a lot like the things many of us are doing already. But these things can slide into more obvious —
And serious.
Forms of psychosis during periods of increased stress.
So, what’s not “insane” today —
Might be insane tomorrow.
Which is why it’s important to seek help early.
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of psychosis mean something is taken away from normal behavior. Negative affect (numbing emotions) means something is taken away. Negative symptoms often take the form of:
Flat affect:
- Lack of facial expression or physical gesturing
- Inability or unwillingness to express emotion
- Monotone voice
Decreased initiative
Lack of interest in other people
Numbed emotions (especially positive emotions)
Lack of spontaneity (rigidity)
And again. These are things a lot of us are already experiencing. And we’re taking them for granted because they’re not overtly problematic.
Meaning not completely —
Abnormal.
But that doesn’t mean they’re not on the —
Fairly benign.
Side of psychotic.
So, can untreated CPTSD lead to insanity?
Whatever your idea of insanity is?
Yes.
Does it always or even often?
No.
But psychosis can be a slippery slope. And that slope gets infinitely more slippery —
With increased stress.
So, you should deal with untreated trauma —
As well as early psychosis.
Through therapy.
Well before it could.