Mental Health Basics

Psychosis is a syndrome, which is a mixture of symptoms that can be associated
with many different psychiatric disorders but is not a specific disoder itself
in diagnostic schemes such as a DSM-IV or ICD-10. At a minimum, psychosis means
delusions and hallucinations. It generally also includes symptoms such as
disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and gross distortion or reality.

Therefore, psychosis can be considered to be a set of symptoms in which a
person's mental capacity, affective response, and capacity to recognize reality,
communicate, and relate to others are impaired. Psychotic disorders have
psychotic symptoms as their defining features, but there are other disorders in
which psychotic symptoms may present but are not necessary for the diagnosis.

Disorders that require the presence of psychosis as a defining feature of the
diagnosis include schizophrenia, substance induced psychotic disorder,
schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, brief
psychotic disorder, shared psychotic disorder, and psychotic disorder due to
general medical condition.

Disorders that may or may not have psychotic disorders as an associated feature
include mania and depression as well as several cognitive disorders such as
Alzheimer's dementia.

Essential Psychopharmacology of Antipsychotics and Mood Stabilizers
-Stephen M. Stahl