About Psychosis

In this section:

Need Help Now?

Call 911, go to the emergency room, or call the local crisis line services if you need them.

24/7 Suicide Prevention & Crisis Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Local Crisis Lines

Most counties in Oregon have their own local crisis line.

This list is arranged alphabetically by county

  • Baker County
    (541) 519-7126
  • Benton County
    1-888-232-7192
  • Clackamas County
    (971) 244-4635
  • Clatsop County
    (503) 325-5724
  • Columbia County
    (503) 397-5211
    or 1-866-866-1426
  • Coos County
    (541) 266-6800
  • Crook County
    (541) 322-7500, #9
  • Curry County
    1-877-519-9322
  • Deschutes County
    (541) 322-7500, #9
  • Douglas County
    (541) 440-3532
    or 1-800-866-9780
  • Gilliam County
    (541) 676-9161
  • Grant County
    (541) 676-9161
  • Harney County
    (541) 573-8376
  • Hood River, Wasco, & Sherman Counties
    Weekdays:
    Hood River
    (541) 386-2620
    The Dalles
    (541) 296-5452
    Evenings & Weekends:
    (541) 296-6307 (all areas)
  • Jackson County
    (541) 774-8201
  • Jefferson County
    (541) 322-7500, #9
  • Josephine County
    (541) 474-5360
  • Klamath County
    (541) 883-1030
  • Lake County
    (541) 573-8376
  • Lane County
    (458) 205-7070
  • Lincoln County
    Weekdays:
    (541) 574-5960
    Evenings & Weekends:
    1-888-232-7192
  • Linn County
    Weekdays:
    (541) 967-3866
    or 1-800-304-7468
    Evenings & Weekends:
    1-800-560-5535
  • Malheur County
    (541) 523-5903
  • Marion County
    (503) 585-4949
  • Morrow County
    (541) 676-9161
  • Multnomah County
    (503) 988-4888
    or 1-800-716-9769
  • Polk County
    Weekdays:
    (503) 623-9289, #1
    Evenings & Weekends:
    (503) 581-5535
    or 1-800-560-5833
  • Tillamook County
    (503) 842-8201
    or 1-800-962-2851
  • Umatilla County
    (541) 240-8030
  • Union County
    (541) 962-8800, #6
  • Wallowa County
    (541) 398-1175
  • Washington County
    EASA Participants:
    (971) 244-4635
    Not enrolled in EASA:
    (503) 291-9111
  • Wheeler County
    (541) 676-9161
  • Yamhill County
    1-844-842-8200

For a complete list of crisis contacts within Oregon, please visit the Oregon.gov list of crisis services.

Refer to EASA

Are you or someone you know a young person experiencing psychosis? Please call these numbers to make an appointment with your nearest EASA team to receive information and support:

  • Baker County
    (541) 519-3239
  • Benton County
    (541) 223-4666
  • Clackamas County
    (503) 496-3201, #1244
    or (503) 710-8843
  • Clatsop County
    (971) 704-4071
  • Columbia County
    (503) 397-5211, #173
  • Coos County
    (541) 266-6761
  • Curry County
    (541) 813-2535, #3270
  • Deschutes, Crook, & Jefferson Counties
    (541) 213-6851
  • Douglas County
    (541) 440-3532
    or (541) 530-2834
  • Grant, Gilliam, Morrow, & Wheeler Counties
    (541) 625-1623
  • Harney & Lake Counties
    (541) 589-5148
  • Hood River, Wasco, & Sherman Counties
    (541) 296-5452, #4330
  • Jackson County
    (541) 770-7768
  • Josephine County
    (541) 244-3138
  • Klamath County
    (541) 883-1030
  • Lane County
    (458) 205-7070
  • Lincoln County
    (541) 265-4179
  • Linn County
    (541) 974-7946
  • Malheur County
    (541) 889-9167, #350
  • Marion County
    (503) 576-4690
  • Multnomah County
    (503) 988-3272
  • Polk County
    (503) 385-7417
  • Tillamook County
    (503) 842-8201
    or 1-800-962-2851
  • Umatilla County
    (541) 567-2536, #723
  • Union County
    (541) 962-8874
  • Wallowa County
    (541) 426-0811
  • Washington County
    (503) 705-9999
  • Yamhill County
    (503) 583-5527

Find Help in the U.S.

If you or someone you know is a young person experiencing psychosis outside Oregon, you can find a program near you in the Early Psychosis Directory.

Search the Directory Spreadsheet here >> or search the Google Map here >>

To add, remove, or edit information in the Early Psychosis Directory, please use this form >>

If you are between the ages of 15-25 and are experiencing new mental health symptoms or unusual experiences and want to learn if EASA or another mental health program could be helpful to you, take this survey
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What is Psychosis?

About Psychosis


In this interview from the National Institute of Mental Health, Ryan talks about his experiences with schizophrenia, his challenges, and his success in fulfilling his dreams.


This animated short video describes what psychosis is (and isn't) from the perception of young adults who live with psychosis and related issues.

What is psychosis?

"Psychosis" is a broad term that covers many different symptoms and experiences.

Common symptoms include:

  • Hallucinations (seeing, hearing feeling or tasting things that other people don't)
  • Feeling overwhelmed by sensory information (lights seem too bright, noises too loud)
  • Difficulty filtering stimulation from the environment
  • Delusions (false personal beliefs based on incorrect inferences about reality which are inconsistent with culture and previous beliefs, and which are firmly sustained in spite of evidence or proof to the contrary)
  • Confused thinking or speech
  • Difficulty doing ordinary things (often includes problems with memory, attention, putting thoughts together)

Who experiences psychosis?

Anyone can develop psychosis. Many people see or hear things that others don't, or have ideas that are unusual. Psychosis is only a problem when it is causing you or someone close to you significant distress or harm.

It affects 3 in 100 people, and usually occurs for the first time between the ages of 15 and 30. Men often develop psychosis 5 to 10 years younger than women. It can be caused by a variety of medical illnesses, sleep deprivation, severe stress or trauma, drug reactions, genetic predisposition, and other factors.

Common Early Signs of Psychosis

  Some of the most common signs of psychosis include:

  • A sudden loss of interest in things that the person used to find enjoyable
  • Inability to do the things that the person could do before (e.g., a person who normally loves math suddenly can't do it anymore)
  • Social withdrawal and isolating from friends and family
  • Dramatic changes in sleep pattern
  • Statements or behavior that are bizarre and inconsistent with what's going on around them

Emergence of Symptoms

Psychotic disorders rarely emerge suddenly. Most often, the symptoms evolve and become gradually worse over a period of months or even years. Early symptoms often include cognitive and sensory changes which can cause significant disability before the illness becomes acute and is finally diagnosed. Identifying and responding appropriately to the condition early can help to get the person and their family support.

1. Reduced Performance

  • Trouble reading or understanding complex sentences
  • Trouble speaking or understanding what others are saying
  • Becoming easily confused or lost
  • Trouble in sports or other activities that used to be easy (Example: can't dribble basketball or pass to team members)
  • Attendance problems related to sleep or fearfulness

2. Behavior Changes

  • Extreme fear for no apparent reason
  • Uncharacteristic and bizarre actions or statements
  • New, bizarre beliefs
  • Incoherent or bizarre writing
  • Extreme social withdrawal
  • Decline in appearance and hygiene
  • Dramatic changes in sleeping or eating

3. Perceptual Changes

  • Fear that others are trying to hurt them
  • Heightened sensitivity to sights, sounds, smells or touch
  • Making statements like "my brain is playing tricks on me"
  • Hearing voices or other sounds that others don't
  • Reporting visual changes (colors more intense, faces distorted, lines turned wavy)
  • Feeling like someone else is putting thoughts into their brain or that others are reading their thoughts

Earlier on, symptoms may be intermittent and the person often recognizes that something is wrong. As psychosis progresses, people lose their ability to distinguish symptoms from reality, and it becomes more difficult to have a conversation. For example, a person who has auditory hallucinations will hear voices which sound to them as loud and real and a person standing right next to them, even though others don't hear it. A person whose psychosis has progressed may not believe that other people don't hear the same voices and may not be able to integrate new information from others into their thinking.

Psychosis may also result from, or accompany, a mood disorder such as major depression or bipolar disorder (in which there are dramatic swings in energy level, sleep patterns, mood and behavior).

Example: A Concerning Change

Jonathan really liked two things: fixing computers and hanging out with his friends. So when he suddenly stopped doing both, it came as a big shock. His best friend came to visit and found him staring off into the distance.

"Have you been fixing that laptop?" she asked.

"No." Jonathan's face didn't seem to show any emotion. His tone was flat.

"Are you feeling down? Depressed?"

Jonathan shrugged. "I don't know. I can't seem to focus on anything anymore. My computer screen hurts my eyes."

As time passed, Jonathan's teachers and parents started noticing differences too. He stopped doing his homework and would skip class. Then, his friends noticed that he was posting unusual statements on Facebook.

"Aliens are out to get me and they're talking through the TV," he wrote. "I'm scared. I don't know what to do."

Stories like these are not uncommon for people experiencing psychosis for the first time. It can be very concerning for both the individual and their family, friends, and allies. But there is hope. 

Many young people experience psychosis and still realize their hopes and goals. It is important that they receive support from their families, friends, allies, and mental health. Please use the "Get Help Now" button to find a support network near you.

Symptoms of Psychosis

Psychosis is generally defined in terms of "positive" symptoms. "Positive" symptoms are those symptoms which manifest outwardly, including hallucinations, delusions and speech disorder (also referred to as thought disorder). Many people who experience psychosis also experience additional types of symptoms: mood symptoms (relating to moods and energy levels), abnormal movements and behaviors, "negative" symptoms (things that aren't there now that that used to be), and cognitive symptoms (having to do with information processing). Below is a more detailed description of each type of symptom. Below is a more detailed description of each type of symptom.

Insight:

It's important to understand that people usually are aware of some symptoms but not others. This is in part because of the nature of the symptoms themselves. Think of the analogy of an optical illusion. Your brain perceives and interprets information, but the information is interpreted incorrectly because of the way your brain constructs the information. Only when someone points out the error and when you use tools such as a ruler to "reality test" your perception do you recognize that it is an optical illusion. Psychosis is very similar. The brain perceives and interprets information erroneously, but the person is unaware that this is happening. Certain symptoms such as distressing hallucinations, paranoia and anxiety are often perceived as problematic to the person. However, most people do not recognize them as medical symptoms, and many of the other symptoms are recognized primarily by other people. For this reason it is critical for close family members and others who are known and trusted by the individual to be involved in the assessment and ongoing treatment process. Part of the process of treatment is helping the person to learn to distinguish and differentiate symptomatic perceptions from normal perceptions.

Positive Symptoms:

Hallucinations: Seeing, hearing or feeling things that others don't. This can range from an intense experience of color, blurring or distortion of visual images, to hearing sounds or voices with no apparent source, and seeing or feeling objects or phenomena which others do not.

Delusions: False beliefs based on incorrect inferences about reality, inconsistent with culture, experience and previous beliefs, and held with conviction despite evidence to the contrary. Delusions can be caused by a variety of information processing dysfunctions, involving sensory input, memory, attention, and interpretation. Some common delusions:

Delusions of reference: Belief that day-to-day events or experiences refer directly to you; for example, that the people on the TV set are talking directly to you, that street signs, license plates, or behaviors (such as coughing) carry communications specifically aimed at you.

Delusions of grandeur: Belief that you are able to do things which are beyond normal capacity, such as fly or act as royalty.

Persecutory delusions: Belief that others are trying to hurt you, for example, by poisoning you or through a conspiracy to cause you harm.

Nihilistic delusions: Belief that you or others do not exist.

Thought broadcasting: Belief that your thoughts can be read by others.

Thought insertion: Belief that others are placing thoughts in your head.

Thought withdrawal: Belief that one's thoughts are being extracted from the mind.

Thought control: Belief that feelings, thoughts and actions are not one's own, experienced as being imposed by an external source.

Speech/thought disorder:

These are symptoms related to the person's ability to communicate. The person may experience changes to their use of speech and the way they construct sentences. Examples include:

Frequent changes of ideas, making little sense to others (circumstantiality, tangentiality, derailment, looseness of association, flight of ideas)

Incoherent jumble of words (word salad)


Choosing words based on sound, such as rhyming or punning (clang associations)

Making up words which mean something only to the speaker (neologism)

Echoing others' words (echolalia)

Abnormal movements and behaviors:

A person may develop odd behaviors, movements or mannerisms, or may become unable to move on their own (catatonia, waxy flexibility or posturing)

Negative symptoms:

The following common symptoms are similar to some of the cognitive symptoms, but are commonly classified as "negative" symptoms (i.e. something taken away, versus "positive" symptoms, where something new is occurring):

Lack of facial expression (affective flattening) or inability , to detect facial cues from others;

Absence or restriction of speech (alogia);

Difficulty initiating goal-directed behavior (avolition/anhedonia)

Inability to experience pleasure and/or maintain social contacts (anhedonia/asociality)

Inability to maintain mental focus (attentional impairment)

Mood symptoms:

Depression: Predominant mood is depressed and there is a loss of interest or pleasure in nearly all activities for at least 2 weeks. Depression in its severe forms can cause psychosis. Depression can also be an early warning sign of psychosis for people who have schizophrenia.

Suicidal thoughts. It is important to know that many people who experience psychosis also experience suicidal thoughts, and the risk of suicide is significantly greater than for people who do not experience psychosis.

Mania: Period of time in which a person's mood is elevated or irritable, there is a lack of restraint in behavior, and highs in energy, requiring little or no sleep. Severe mania can cause psychosis, or a person can have both mania symptoms and psychosis symptoms distinctly from each other.

Anxiety. Extreme anxiety is common with psychosis.

Cognitive symptoms:

Most people who experience psychosis also experiences difficulty with memory, attention, and organization of thoughts. These symptoms may improve but often do not disappear completely with treatment for psychosis.

More information:

More information about psychosis:
  • For a comprehensive and highly useful text, we recommend Psychosis: A Wellness Approach, by Mary Moller. This text can be ordered at http://www.psychiatricwellness.com


  • Causes of Psychosis

    Psychosis is a condition which affects the brain's ability to process information. Psychosis can affect sensory perception, ability to organize information, and ability to express information. There are many causes. Everyone has the potential to develop psychosis, if they don't sleep for multiple days in a row, if they take certain drugs or develop certain medical conditions, or if they experience extremely severe and prolonged stress. Psychosis has a strong genetic component. Individuals whose family members have experienced psychosis will be at greater risk for developing it themselves. Some people with a particularly great vulnerability to developing psychosis have to manage it as an ongoing condition.

    The following illnesses or conditions, among others, can cause symptoms of psychosis.