Page 96 - SafeCert Approved First Aid for Mental Health at Work (Level 3) | Trainers Manual

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Handouts

Teaching Psychosis

Facts
• About 3 out of 100 people will have an episode of psychosis in their lifetime.
• The first episode is usually seen in teens or young adults.

What is it?

Psychosis is when people lose some contact with reality. This might involve
seeing or hearing things that other people cannot see or hear (hallucinations)
and believing things that are not actually true (delusions).
Signs and Symptoms

Administration The 2 main symptoms of psychosis are:

hallucinations – where a person hears, sees and, in some cases, feels, smells or tastes things
•
that do not exist outside their mind but can feel very real to the person affected by them; a common

delusions – where a person has strong beliefs that are not shared by others; a common delusion
• hallucination is hearing voices
is someone believing there's a conspiracy to harm them
• The combination of hallucinations and delusional thinking can cause severe distress and a
change in behaviour. Experiencing the symptoms of psychosis is often referred to as having a
psychotic episode.

Recovery

If you're concerned about someone you know, you could contact a GP for them. If they're receiving
Lesson Plans If you think the person's symptoms are severe enough to require urgent treatment and could be
support from a mental health service, you could contact their mental health worker.

placing them at possible risk, you can:

•
call their GP or local out-of-hours GP
• take them to the nearest A&E, if they agree
• call 999 and ask for an ambulance

A number of mental health helplines are also available that can offer expert advice.

For more information: www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Handouts s

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