This post is for people recovering from a drug induced (steroid/prednisone) psychosis.
So, it's been 7 years on since I had my major psychotic episode. And after it happened, as I have blogged, I had no real idea about what had happened. It was a real mystery. I won't go through the details again.
In any event, internet posts back then were really my only access to any account of what psychosis was. Sometime after the psychosis happened, yes, I had talked to medical professionals, but survivors who had posted information about psychosis to the internet gave me a lot of hope. It wasn't medical advice really, just experience.
And I can say, when you are recovering from psychosis, there is no easy path ahead. Actually, for about a year post psychosis, I sort of still was deranged. I acted in very odd ways, came up with very odd solutions to problems, and really could not be fully reasoned with. And I really didn't fully realize this until years later.
But okay, for the people out there reading this while in this state of confusion, it can and likely will get better, but there is a huge issue... you need to position yourself into an environment that is as stress-free as possible. I know that might be very difficult. At first, it was for me. The second part I feel, is that you must begin to work towards as sustainable life, and that can also be very difficult.
In a brief rundown of the last seven years... perhaps it can help to guide you.
Years 1-2 were basically a mess. I spend them basically in bed, trying to stay calm, but also took very long walks. Years 3-4 was a period where I was able to enter a social world again, but the anxiety levels were very high. During this time, I did take medication to help calm me down, and it helped to sort of break the "doom loop". Years 5-6 were years where I pushed myself to become fully functional again. I worked, but that was about it. Off time was spent trying to focus on anti-anxiety states of mind.
But year seven. Well, you can read about this, but as the brain is where psychosis resides, it's a brain injury. But also, it is part of the wider nervous system. So once the psychosis resolves, remember that the nervous system might still be reeling from the experience.
I have read that the amygdala controls the "flight-fight" system. Now, it controls cortisol and such... in years 1-2, when I would sleep, the ironic thing was I would feel worse. I would wake-up with a massive feeling of dread. Over the years, the dread morphed into anxiety, and I thought it would never go away.
However, maybe the brain has an ability to heal, and if you can put yourself into a stress-free situation, it will heal. In year 7 here, there has been a period of a deep need for sleep, but healthier sleep, and the anxiety has actually been ebbing away as the amygdala alarm seems to have been finally turned off.
It took seven years. And even now, I want to be careful about saying this. And also say, I was on the too high levels of Androgel (which started this mess) 14 years ago. Time in equals, time out. I don't know. I don't know the situation of anyone reading this either, so please, only take may account as something perhaps helpful, or hopeful.
