The first symptoms of psychosis

Episodes of significant depression have been a part of my life for as long as I can recall, but psychosis was unknown to me until I was in my mid-thirties, months after the birth of my second child. At first, all I recognized were the emerging symptoms of postpartum depression in the weeks after the birth: a familiar scenario, since it had also occurred with my first child. My doctor immediately prescribed 50mg of Prozac daily. I took the medication, felt much better, and continued to breastfeed my second daughter with no apparent problems. In fact, for about four months I felt better than I had in years. My therapist, an LCSW, was thrilled with my progress. She had been treating me with a technique called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). The therapy worked. In this article I present essays. These essays are my recollections of some of the new, and very foreign, moments in the beginning of that process, as my mind gradually turned from sane to psychotic.

Journal

English

Kristen B. Fowler

Fowler, K. B. (2007, January). The first symptoms of psychosis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 33(1), 16-18. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbj025