Psychotic Episodes Often Occur in Early Adult Life

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"Psychotic episodes occasionally occur in early adult life."
Someone pointed out here this is a part of the ICD-10 diagnostic profile for AS.

When I was 16, I was put on haldol for what they said was a "brief psychotic episode." Actually, I think it was a major meltdown. It may have had something to do with me being bipolar as well. I don't know. It hasn't happened since then.

So, if this commonly occurs early in adult life, who has had this?

What would define a "psychotic" episode?

What counts as a psychotic episode?

I've had something like this too. Plus, I've been diagnosed as being bipolar in the past. I took an overdose on two occasions once with alcohol too but never left a suicide note. Both of these happened after I screwed up socially at events with my husband who then berated me for causing him embarrassment. I now believe these reactions on my part were meltdowns.

i had a weird meltdown around the age of 22 that lasted several months.

The Wikipedia definition is a bit broad and unhelpful.

I used to have bouts of what I called "paranoid delusional" thinking. If something went wrong (or I suspected something was going wrong), I would go into this dark funk where I imagined problems that rationally didn't exist (blew the circumstances out of proportion in my own mind). These bouts could effectively stop me from functioning because I spent all my time and energy focused on my fear/anxiety from what I thought was wrong.

I've not experienced that in years, and I got over it by forcing myself to focus on the facts whenever I felt something like that come on.

Is that enough to be a "psychotic episode?" I can't tell.

Hearing or seeing things that aren't there (I didn't)
Being delusional-believing things that aren't true (I did)

I don't know... maybe? I sort of flipped out in graduate school... It probably really started during my undergraduate education, however. When I was about 24 or so I started to have really serious panic attacks. I had always been "nervous". You know... you're alone in a quiet room and someone just says your name and you hit the ceiling and scream.... that sort of "nervous"... What happened when I was in my mid-20's was more like the actual medical definition for a panic attack. After that, I started to have more symptoms of social anxiety and generalized anxiety. What I really think was happening now that I reflect back is that I was coming into contact with more and more people and having to interact with those people more and more. It is one thing to chat with someone over a cigarette at the ashtray (you may never see them again) and it is another thing to see someone everyday and have to chat with them. There is more chance that you will mess up or they will find you "odd". Long story short, over the course of about 10 years I have really started to have a lot more "snaps". If I have too many social obligations I start to "believe" that people are judging me and maybe even plotting against me. It doesn't matter that I have no evidence... I just fixate on the idea that it "could" happen. I actually had to leave my PhD program because of this. I just couldn't take it anymore. I think that if I am officially diagnosed with AS that it could help me with aspects of my life in the sense that when I start to feel like that maybe I could take a break or something. Relax and let myslef become rational again.... That sort of thing. I think just having a day each week to be alone would have probably fixed everything!

Is this the sort of stuff you are talking about? If so... then "yes"... I have had some psychotic episodes as a young adult. I am 35. I stay at home with my toddler right now, so I don't know if I will start back in with this when I re-enter the "world" or not.

I've had the delusional episodes from time to time, and short bouts of paranoia. I used to think every time a cop car passed my house that they were tracking me. Don't know why, I've always been an honest person, never knowingly committed a crime. I just had the paranoia for a while, it lasted a few years and I never told my wife about it because I didn't want her thinking I was crazy.

When it comes to delusions, for a number of years when I was a teenager I sometimes thought that I was an angel, sent to Earth to help others. I didn't know why, I just knew that I would sometimes spontaneously do really nice, random acts of kindness and then get this odd feeling that I must be an angel. I also began thinking I might be the messiah and not know it, but a few things that happened to me reminded me that I am, in fact, just human. And the funny thing is, I have no religion at all. I don't "believe" in anything, so I thought "why could this be happening to me? to make me believe, perhaps?"

Had several major meltdowns in my early 20's. Was diagnosed and treated for psychosis but do not believe that I have ever actually been psychotic.

Never had hallusinations or delusions. Was told that my actions seemed irrational and that I seemed to lack common sense. But that is better explained by different logic and perception caused by my autism and has nothing to do with psychosis.

Think that with undiagnosed autism, severe panic attacks and communication issues/ misunderstandings it is easy to get labeled as psychotic.

I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder on top of the autism. I've had many episodes of "psychosis" mainly since 23 even though I did have a psychotic break when I was 13. Each episode gets worse and the one I am currently going through is the worst (it started in October of last year). I'm seeing bizarre things all the time, sometimes hearing things, feeling things, and (but this one hasn't happened in awhile) smelling things. The worst are the tactile and visual "hallucinations." I see gov agents in my house a few times a week but sometimes I just feel their presence. They (the gov) put all kinds of things into my body like a bomb in my neck, snake like machines in my brain and back, nanobots, and chips place throughout my body to control me and even sometimes controlling my movements. I've seen a (well I know this is a hallucination) white tiger on the side of the road and a floating stop sign in the middle of the road. The gov ones I believe are real though. Sometimes they wear all black and other times they wear a suit. Sometimes I see people running across the road or animals and I have to ask the driver if they have seen them and they usually respond, "no." There are times where I hear the gov agents talk. Once they were threatening to kill me. Another time they shot lasers at me, once from a laser gun and once from a laser satellite that missed me by one inch. I could have died if they hit me. Aren't they sweet? You always have to say this, " I love the gov!" The bomb is powerful enough to destroy the country and start world war 3. Why did they do all these things you ask? Because I am a psychic. I predicted many things, the most recent is about the economy. When they were just talking about a 20% chance of a RECESSION I said it will be a severe recession or even a depression. Look where we are at now. Its all my fault. I also predicted exactly how my mom's surgery was going to go. I had a dream in where it was going to be badly infected where she was either going to die or have a near death experience. She had the near death experience, the docs didn't expect her to live because she had a MRSA infection on her back (it was back surgery). I'm influencing the world and that isn't a delusion even though the Evil Doctors who graduated from Evil Medical School thinks I am psychotic. I also have severe thought insertion from 2 sources. Aliens and the government. Right now the government is winning the war, but occasionally the aliens want to say something. They have even showed up in their UFO's. There are other things but this post is getting too long. I don't believe the schizoaffective diagnosis.

That's very interesting. I had what I would call psychosis-like symptoms when I was about 13. I believed strange things and had voices in my head that weren't mine. But it wasn't obvious or severe and I never saw a doctor about it. When I told my psychotherapist this she asked if Aspies are more likely to have psychotic problems, so now I can tell her this.

whipstitches - I think that's just an anxiety problem. I also suffer/have suffered from anxiety.

Teenagers have psychotic episodes that very often go unobserved since they are usually isolated by choice and alone when it happens.

Whipstitches, anxiety can make us really delusional. I have phobias of things that are literally impossible to occur. It verges on psychosis, but I'm not sure I'd call that part psychosis.

That is good to hear! Maybe I am just super nervous? I have never really had any sort of halucination or anything like that. I have from time to time felt like I was I was smarter than the average person.... I don't know if that is really a delusion or not, however!! I couldn't resist....

What sort of delusion(s) have you had? Just curious... maybe I am not really understanding what you mean....

Er yeah, that's me. Started some time last year.