WO2006125257A1 - A method of preventing or reducing the occurrence of psychosis and related symptoms using knowledge of actual mental processes in schizophrenia and other illness involving psychotic symptoms - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to preventing or reducing the occurrence of psychosis and related symptoms through a significant shift in current knowledge and understanding of schizophrenia and or psychosis and related symptoms.

Description

Re: International Patent Application No. PCT/AU2006/000865, claiming priority re Provisional Patent Application No, 2005902698.

Inventor: Deborah Valerie Nicholas, D.O.B: 04/11/68

Title:

A METHOD OF PREVENTING OR REDUCING THE OCCURRENCE OF PSYCHOSIS AND RELATED SYMPTOMS USING KNOWLEDGE OF ACTUAL MENTAL PROCESSES IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND OTHER ILLNESS INVOLVING PSYCHOTIC SYMPTOMS.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of preventing or reducing the occurrence of psychosis and related symptoms Including in what is commonly known as the prepsychotic and psychotic (or 'positive') symptoms or phases of schizophrenia.

The present invention also relates to that the majority of symptoms of schizophrenia or psychosis and related symptoms including cognitive symptoms and delusions, would not occur If the senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell and proprioception) were functioning normally, that is, if 'sensory malfunction' - 'sensory malfunction' for the purpose of this document describing the existence of overacuteness and or hallucinations of one, any combination of or all of the senses, and related physiological and psychological aspects - WAS NOT occurring, because malfunctioning senses and their physiological and psychological facets is the cause of the prepsychotic and psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia and related disorders.

Background of the Invention

Currently throughout the world the medical and related professions recommend and assert that the successful treatment of schizophrenia and or psychosis and related symptoms, primarily Involves the use of antipsychotic medication, and believes very many of psychosis and related symptoms - including prepsychotic and psychotic phases - is separate or individual symptoms, therefore hindering most patients reaching their full potential.

The treatment approach of this patent holds that equally important as, and potentially more important than the use of antipsychotic medication, is thorough accurate educating of patients, and where appropriate their support providers, about psychosis and related symptoms, and that this education does involve a significant shift in current knowledge and understanding of psychosis and related symptoms, thereby enabling very significant potential for large reduction of antipsychotic medication required resulting in improved quality of life including opportunity for more normal personal and intellectual development for also medication resistant patients.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided that the majority of symptoms of schi2ophrenia and or psychosis and related symptoms including those occurring during what is commonly known as the prepsychotic and psychotic phases of schizophrenia including delusions and cognitive dysfunction, would not occur if the senses (vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell and proprioception) were functioning normally, that is, that Sensory Malfunction - which for the purpose of this document and subject describes the existence of overacutness and or hallucinations of one, any combination of, or all of the senses and the related physiological and psychological facets - is the cause of what is commonly known as prepsychotic and psychotic symptoms including delusions and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia aηd or psychosis, and related symptoms and or physiological and psychological aspects. In other words Sensory Malfunction is directly and indirectly responsible for individually and encompassing: delusions; unusual or bizarre thinking; unusual or bizarre speech; unusual or bizarre behaviour; disorganised thinking; disorganised speech; disorganised behaviour; social impairment or dysfunction; lack of seemingly logical continuity of thought; difficulty in maintaining a logical, coherent flow of conversation; restlessness; decreased inhibition; prolonged anxiety, tension, or worry; fidgeting, pacing, or hyperactivity; overly dependent behaviour; racing and or Slowed thoughts; uncontrollable thoughts and possibly mannerisms; overconfidence; thoughts of exaltation; digressive, vague, overelaborate, or circumstantial speech, impairment in role functioning; odd beliefs or magical thinking; disorientation; confusion; paranoia; insomnia; mood instability; agitation; suicidal thoughts and tendencies; alterations in sense of self, others, and or the world; trouble concentrating; pre-occupatlon; difficulty expressing thoughts; difficulty integrating thoughts, feelings and behaviour; difficulty maintaining attention; difficulty thinking on an abstract level; impulsivity; irritability and or hostility; feeling worthless and or guilty; fatigue; violent behaviour; decreased speech, emotion and or movement; suspiciousness; self-care impairment; impaired information processing; impaired memory; obsessive compulsive phenomena; increased interpersonal sensitivity; affect inappropriate to the situation or stimuli; unusual motor behaviour; depersonalisation; derealisation; somatic preoccupations and possibly any problems with visual "tracking", visual dimension perception and symptoms associated with catatonia.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided that highly misunderstood symptoms such as a "overloaded" - or "busy' - mind, which does result in inability to focus on the whole or entirety of any given sensory stimuli or surrounds therefore causing the person afflicted to appear very much mentally incapacitated, and for example the conditions such as state of terror, or feelings of exaltation often present in schizophrenia or psychosis and related symptoms, result directly and indirectly from sensory malfunction.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided that a absence of or minimal presence of sensory malfunction, can be maintained through proper insight into schizophrenia or psychosis and related symptoms.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided that sensory malfunction can contribute to what is commonly known as 'negative' symptoms of schizophrenia - including incidentally that delusional thinking can impact affect - albeit some negative symptoms and cognitive and social impairment, insofar as for example a degree of apathetic tendencies, poverty of speech, poverty of content of speech, reduction in spontaneity, initiative, pleasure or energy, and affective flattening (blunted or inappropriate affect), and some cognitive symptoms, as is known, can substantially worsen or be caused to be present, through the use of most of the available antipsychotic medications. in accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided that what is commonly known as 'prepsychotic' (or prodromal) symptoms or the initial phase of schizophrenia, primarily involves sensory overacuteness, which also often can lead to delusional thinking in this phase, and to somatic preoccupation and other out-of-ordinary Interests and inclinations and or unusually reflective thinking of this phase,

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided that what is commonly known as the 'psychotic' phase does usually if not always involve hallucinations and usuallty alongside sensory overacuteness.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided that 'voices', as with other forms of hallucinations, usually directly and indirectly lead to quite extensive delusional thinking, and also commonly to a further exacerbation of sensory malfunction.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided that there is usually a correlation between what Is commonly referred to as 'belief systems', and the nature and themes within psychotic symptoms and level of functioning generally pre, during and after the psychotic phase,

In accordance with another aspect of the present Invention there is provided that without proper insight into sensory malfunction, it is usually rarely obvious to a afflicted individual that sensory malfunction is what is occurring when it is occurring, particularly in regard to sensory overacuteness, and therefore for example in also what is commonly known as delusional disorder, the sensory overacuteness and sometimes present albeit relatively mild hallucinations, is rarely considered a source and or moreoever the source of delusional thinking.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there Is provided that If appropnate insight as described herein, Into schizophrenia and or psychosis and related symptoms, is achieved - insight usually best pursued after minimisation of first episode psychosis with the use of antipsychotic medication, or pursued rf possible before a full-blown more disabling psychosis develops, that is during the prepsychotic or prodromal phase possibly before any application of medication - a higher level of functioning than currently usually possible Is achievable together with significant relapse incidence reduction, or with lifelong negligible or nil psychosis.

In accordance with the above aspect of the present invention, there is provided that functioning is able to be increased further, with decreased use of currently available antipsychotic medication in cases where insight is particularly well sustained, due to that the occurrence and extent of sensory malfunction and resultant mental processes can be stifled - or cause to be ceased - if a person prone to psychosis and related symptoms acknowledges and understands that sensory malfunction is taking place when it is taking place, because the brain tends to not provide itself with false sensory stimuli/information if its own self/mind will not, and or does not, believe this sensory malfunction or its related facets.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided that given generally good environmental circumstances together with vigilance twoards insight, minimising or prevention of sensory malfunction may be further enhanced long-term and potentially indefinitely.

Additionally in accordance with the present invention, there is provided that the appropriate education of the person with schizophrenia or proneness or predisposition to psychosis and or related symptoms, and where appropriate their support providers, particularly with reference to sensory malfunction as described herein and for what ever length of time is required to achieve success by the patient in rejecting and preventing any sensory malfunction, that is in viewing it and its manifestations as is as explained herein - enables prevention of the development of psychotic symptoms and in particular full-blown psychosis.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

The compositions of the present invention involves the following:

The initial or prepsychotic (prodromal) phase of schizophrenia primarily entails a overacuteness of one, any combination of, or all senses - that is, vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell and proprioception - leaving the afflicted person experiencing a heightened awareness of surroundings and self, and often leading to their exhibiting excess interest in matters such as their identity, self expression, body, beliefs, and personal influences.

The afflicted person might also therefore begin altering their appearance, and or exhibiting a out of character and or excess interest in religion and or astrology and or fringe lifestyles and the like - anything which satisfies what is often regarded by a person afflicted with sensory overacuteness as a new-found awareness and or wholeness and or passion, and or "inner-self " .

This overacuteness of a sense/s, whether from mild to extreme, is when actual sensory stimuli/information is being experienced in a heightened manner, for example, visually experiencing objects altered to a enhanced version in possibly shape, size, colour, brightness, movement, and or distance, in the same way overacute hearing can cause actual sounds to seem overly significant, this often also causing the afflicted person to apply some unusual and or delusional thinking.

A hallucination, unlike sensory overacuteness, is a sensory stimuli/information which isnt actually there at all.

Sensory overacuteness can also leave a person afflicted with a uncomfortable and at times overwhelming "raw" feeling, and also at times to the extent they feel very traumatised and this often expresses itself in increased interpersonal sensitivity, sleep disturbance, reduced drive or motivation, anxiety, depressed mood, erradic behaviour, social withdrawal, suspiciousness, irritability, and or some role functioning deterioration.

Sensory overacuteness usually exists also in what is commonly known as the psychotic (or active) phase of schizophrenia, however this phase primarily entails hallucinations of one, any combination of, or alt the senses, and when the afflicted person has little insight into this sensory malfunction, it usually inevitably leads to delusions and particularly powerful delusions in the psychotic phase, because the mind and understandably seeks to understand/explain the experiences.

Then usually, as delusions begin, hallucinations in turn - often voices in particular - reaffirm these false beliefs, because the hallucinations, sensory over-acuteness and delusions do "feed" from each other by this stage, and are directed/influenced also by actual situations, and furthermore a lifetime of information stored in the mind/brain.

Also often the result of the above is a very "busy" or overloaded mind/brain, which among other difficulties, can cause a inability to perceive certain stimuli as part/s of a whole thereby restricting the afflicted person's focus to individual facets only, and so further exacerbating dysfunction,

Sensations can also be blunted in schizophrenia, though this usually occurs later in the course of the illness and results in a decrease in awareness/observation of surrounds unlike the increased awareness and observations which occur during overacute and or hallucinating senses which do often lead to a snowball effect as explained, that is commonly result in 'positive' symptoms "feeding" from each other and or influenced and driven by each other.

Also occurring during the psychotic phase and sometimes during the prepsychotic phase, and primarily attributable to extreme sensory overacuteness, is the afflicted individual experiencing for example tv, radio, and or print media seeming to be sending "messages" to him/herself. A street or shop sign or number plate can be perceived as a message, "sign" or omen, particularly in societies and communities holding significant belief in the supernatural, also because such beliefs are often "embedded" If you will at a impressionable age in such communities or environments despite often seeming insignificant to these individuals in their later years. To elaborate, due to particularly the overacute senses, the afflicted person usually experiences the perception various encounters - and often including routine everyday experiences - are occurring for more than their usual reaaon/s often causing inappropriate conclusion/s/explanation, that is delusion/s. For example:

(i) of there being a source/s with deliberate personal intention and or (ii) of there being a ethereal source/s.

Those persons prone to psychotic illness (ess inclined to be drawn into belief in the supernatural, tend to believe each perceived 'message' has a non-ethereal source and therefore commonly conclude (delude) that there is a conspiracy or project of some form, occurring, and sometimes though less frequently a event/s positive (welcomed) by the afflicted person in progress, and that "messages" are being left by the pereon/s or organisation/s concluded (deluded) responsible. And those deemed "responsible" derives from the afflicted person's life experiences and knowledge and therefore also belief systems, that is, from the array of information stored in the brain, and value placed on this various information by the individual.

Also during the psychotic phase of schizophrenia for example, and evidently due to a extraordinarily large amount of information present in the forefront of the mind/conscious, thoughts can speed up and or slow down in pace and or not flow in a smooth progression. This can often cause the afflicted person to delude that their mind is being interfered with in some way. It is therefore quite common for a person with schizophrenia or psychosis and or related symptoms and aspects to believe their mind is being "read" and or that they are "sending" thoughts from, and or that thoughts are being "inserted" into, their mind/brain, and via for example the use of some form of technological advancement, or in the case of for example religious individuals often thought to be a consequence of for example the activity of a spiritual medium/s or religious figure/s often resulting in such afflicted persons believing they have great powers.

The above symptoms can also cause the afflicted person to perceive, and therefore delude he/she is being bugged, and/or followed, as can also malfunction of the sense of taste for example, in a more simple manner lead the afflicted person to believe food is being poisoned and likewise influence the nature of further sensory malfunction and or related symptoms and aspects of as already explained.

In essence, therefore the individual suffering any form of sensory malfunction, including resulting in delusional thinking, is not - and because of sensory information being received and its resultant mental processes - illogical or insane. In other words during sensory malfunction and its inevitably frequently resulting delusional thinking and various other symptoms, which in turn as described affect the nature and degree of further sensory malfunction and related symptoms, fact is that the majority of thoughts actually follow logic, unless a overloaded conscious/mind as has been explained impairs comprehension of the entirety of stimuli/information being received - a relatively less frequent circumstance.

Also and because the nature and themes of both sensory malfunction and delusions form from the vast pool of Information/data and experiences stored in the mind/conscious, and therefore also the psychology of the afflicted person - albeit with less descrimination of logic and or conclusion ultimately being applied due to the nature and extent of the unusual experiences all which intermingle - many "coincidences" invariably are perceived, and also because the mind begins believing nearly anything is possible and Including as a result of its holding a greater than usual amount of information in its conscious some of which at times seem unrelated, because of the mind's efforts/labours to make sense of the experiences.

For example, 'voices' are affected in a similar way, resulting in their often using words and Ideas that are stemming from the mind placing snippets of information from old memories to the forefront of the mind whilst it struggles to associate everything, therefore sometimes stating words to which meaning is no longer readily recalled/known and or communicating ideas and experiences or parts of, generally long forgotten, therefore contributing to the afflicted person believing it's impossible they could be emanating from one's own mind.

As you can imagine the manner the afflicted person is treated can have a major impact on their psychosis, its extent and nature, and various symptoms of the pre and postpsychotic phases, including in light of that in both these phases also, delusional thinking may be present - albeit possibly lingering only. In other words actual experiences during illness and including the nature of delivery of dialogue encountered by the ill person can very much impact both sensory malfunction and related symptoms, for example delusions of course.

After successful treatment for psychotic symptoms - this treatment currently primarily involving the use of appropriate antipsychotic medication - postpsychotic (or residual) phase schizophrenia usually eventually occurs and what is commonly known as 'negative' symptoms begin to become predominant, that is, symptoms commonly relating to particularly one's motivation and energy levels including alertness. If negative symptoms are particularly severe the individual may feel the need for much excess sleep, and show very little interest in almost everything, though unfortunately antipsychotic medication can contribute significantly to negative symptoms, irrespective of whether some apathy and cognitive and social impairment was present during the prepsychotic phase also.

It needs to be explained here that when the senses return to normal or near normal, delusions can continue, and often this is because:

(i) the person afflicted does not wish to relinquish them, because for example a delusional entity brought some pleasure. This is particularly common in the case of persons with low serf esteem, and or

(ii) limited life experiences hinder potential for accepting more appropriate ideas, and or

(iii) inappropriate belief systems exist, belief systems being of particular importance in sophisticated/developed cultures due the increased potential in such societies and cultures for complex and also any and the extent of lingering delusional thinking.

Therefore a good understanding of societal norms is important for minimising the potential for excessive 'magical' thinking and similar symptoms, or for deluding for example a conspiracy, or that for example a person/s the afflicted person has wanted to meet, or an organisation they have admired, has set about becoming involved in their life. This can be extremely difficult to achieve with a person who has developed schizophrenia at a young age, and or has experienced and considerably long-term a particularly low sαcio set of life experiences and or other similarly impedimental response factors.

And so educating appropriately the person with schizophrenia or similar conditions is vital, including that when armed with appropriate, that is, correct understanding of schizophrenia, any sensory malfunction and related aspects can be treated with mental effort by the afflicted individual because when the afflicted mind acknowledges - and In particular, without doubt - that sensory malfunction is taking place when it is taking place, overacuteness and/or hallucinations of any sense/s can disappear as a result. This approach might not produce success in the circumstance of a sudden onset "busy" psychosis - something however uncommon - nonetheless it can lead to requiring a lower to in some instances nii dose of medication/s for the maintenance of good mental hearth in persons with schizophrenia or psychosis and or related symptoms.

For example during a marfunctioπing of my sense of hearing one night, I woke to the sound of heavy breathing from my dressing table, however because my flat Is very secure and it was highly unlikely someone would have been poised on my dressing table, my mind initially suspected a form of sound transmitting device - probably as a result of ideas stemming from past psychosis, albeit false ideas/memories - but due to fully understanding schizophrenia, or psychosis and related symptoms, I immediately recognised a delusion was forming, and that perhaps my sense of hearing was hallucinating. I felt fearful however armed With the knowledge this absolutely real sounding breathing was probably not real, I remained a tentative observer, not forming in haste, conclusions.

Next unfortunately I heard a terrifyingly loud rumbling sound however recalled that a plane flies overhead at around this time every night transporting newspapers and so I suspect that my sense of hearing is possibly not only hallucinating, but also overty acute, that is, that the "rouring" sky could be the result of hearing the plane passing over far more loudly than the sound would normally be experienced. I feel timid and stressed as would be expected, however didnt allow myself to lock into a feeling of terror, as often occurs when one is believing these sensory experiences/malfunctions are real therefore exacerbating psychosis and related symptoms, and I find It in my mind to conclude my sense of hearing was in fact malfunctioning.

Then within a few seconds, all returned to as normal and I was focussing on falling back to sleep, and whilst praising my brain as I have come to do when it does well. Oddly with respect to sensory malfunction containing alarming subject matter it does seem the brain was in a sense programmed at some stage to endeavour to frighten itself, and so there feels actual value in cajoling my mind and praising it and myself.

I've also often experienced with respect to visual overacuteness and hallucinations, watching them disintegrate within seconds of telling myself sensory malfunction was occurring and nothing more, and similarly gained this result regarding the remaining senses.

Evidently the brain is strongly inclined to not provide itself with, or maintain, sensory malfunction when it does not and is not prepared to believe the symptoms of sensory malfunction are nothing more than symptoms of malfunctioning senses, not unlike that people with little or no belief in the supernatural tend not to have near-death hallucinations when, in these cases, trauma or physical shutdown lends the mind to creating them.

In summary invaluable is appropriate education about sensory malfunction, that is about psychosis and related symptoms, and for many reasons including because people with schizophrenia and other psychotic illness and or related symptoms may need to - in understanding the mental processes and related facets of psychosis - also work on their belief systems in order to maximise their ability to hold at bay or stifle sensory malfunction and Its resulting mental and physical processes, by being objective about any sensory malfunction which occurs and most essentially, by at the time if/when it occurs, acknowledging and regarding it for what it actually is in order to achieve the highly possible resultant prevention of further psychotic and or related symptoms, and also by maintaining vigilently this insight to prevent or reduce future occurrence of psychotic and related symptoms.

Additional Information:

1. Some further examples of sensory malfunction resulting in delusional thoughts: AUDITORY: (i) Experiencing music on radio as a conglomeration of sounds, the sound of each Instrument for example seeming to come from a different direction and distance (ie. sense of source of sounds malfunctioning)

(ii) Experiencing certain words in a conversation/dialogue as far more loud than others, and/or of different character, including timbre, and perhaps sometimes hearing a completely different word/s to the actual spoken, resulting "message/s

(iii) Hearing words/dialogue "weaved" into sounds, for example the scraping or tapping of an object/s, or the sound of for example footsteps on pavement containing not only the actual sound/s, but also being experienced/heard as words spoken by or through/via the actual sound/s (iv) Overacuteness to the point conversation in adjoining rooms/premises is unusually audible VISUAL:

(i) Starkness of and/or outlines in, and/or colour alterations of, and/or magnification of parts or ail of a image and or 3D appearance of 2D images

NB: To a person suffering visual disturbance a frown can be very much a frown and a smile very very much a smile and therefore appropriate demeanour whilst in the presence of a psychotic or similarly unwell person is vital because inappropriate facial expression can trigger other symptoms. Also any unusual feature or blemish can appear exceptionally prominent and therefore disturbing.

(ii) Excessive blinking and or difficulty with tracking movement for example lending to appearance of robotic movements

(iii) Words in text being hallucinated as completely different words, for example experiencing various street signs having the same name, or for example a dictionary giving completely wrong meanings for words

2. Re Delusional Disorder:

Sensory malfunction is usually only of smell and taste, sometimes touch, and probably present is a overall general sensory "rawness", Because these symptoms have relatively less impact full blown psychosis is unlikely,

3. Re reading messages from TV, radio, print, conversation etc:

Due to the mind's efforts to understand the sensory malfunction and related symptoms, by bringing an abundance of past information to the conscious - including snippets of information - much current real information can therefore seem very much related to/directed at the afflicted person, seem completely personal because in a sense much of one's entire life is in the forefront of the mind and therefore almost anything can seem directed at oneself, leading of course to a further snowball effect as described.

4. Belief systems:

In the same way appropriate thinking can disintegrate sensory malfunction, inappropriate thinking can create it. For example a real piece of information can therefore be easily misinterpreted resulting in the snowball effect.

It is ironic delusions in fact come about because of the mind's need for logic, however as is obvious, this helps explain that if all aspects of sensory malfunction are properly explained/demonstrated, appropriate logic can prevail. Nevertheless persons experiencing a unabating psychosis would nave very much difficulty if not find it impossible to grasp or attain a proper understanding of psychosis because of rarely having a clear mind for this opportunity.

5. Appropriate education:

It is important to also bear in mind that although observer/s of a psychotic person usually find it extremely frustrating and or difficult to understand that delusions are usually strongly held/believed by the psychotic person, and that delusions often post psychosis are also often viewed by a person afflicted as having been real experiences, however one's own mind knows the type of sensory information its own self will believe, and or reason or otherwise through and likely details of this reasoning, and as such tends to provide what would likely be believed by its conscious at any given moment. Furthermore, the medical profession currently tends to believe a psychotic person's brain is unable to properly perform the function of logic - that this function is impaired - when in fact the difficulty is that the information being received and processed by the 'psychotic' brain is very different to the information which would otherwise be received and processed if the senses were functioning normally. In other words, a psychotic brain is relying on the stimuli it receives in the same way does the "normal" brain, and of course it would obviously also be difficult to convince a mentally well person to NOT believe what he/she is experiencing - unless of course very clear understandable and sound reasons for believing otherwise exist, that is, unless acquired by the person with a psychotic illness is full accurate knowledge and understanding of 'psychosis', which in essence is the core of this patent.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:-

The invention Involves the implementation of steps and two different procedures may be used:

Procedure 1 : The less intensive approach of:

Step 1 : Education only and involving regular classes or regular private instruction of schizophrenic and or other patients with affliction of a psychotic illness/psychotic features and where appropriate their primary care-givers and or loved ones, on all aspects of 'sensory malfunction' including all potential resulting thought and other mental and related processes and aspects, enabling psychosis to be fully understood.

It is important to note that although some patients may not show interest in this education and or appear to actively/consciously reflect on end or actively/consciously utilise this information, one's brain/mind is frequently sifting and sorting through its information. Dreams demonstrate this to a degree in that as with themes and other details/stimuli a psychotic person may "experience", they at any given time/period also come from all manner of arrangement - or collage-like organisation - of the information which has been stored in one's mind throughout one's life , therefore also explaining their often seeming foreign in nature. Another example of the sifting end sorting is the experience of a appropriate solution or approach to a problem at times seemingly eventually entering one's mind "out of the blue" - in other words the mind/brain does often automatically apply and utilise knowlege, and with respect to psychosis this can occur far more effectively and favourably than is possible when for example a individual with a psychotic illness is told regarding for example delusions: "No, that really isn't possible, it's your mind, it's not wonting property", or "You're ill, deluding. Therefore proper knowledge of psychosis can in a automatic manner- of its own accord - reduce psychotic and related symptoms, encompassing also:

(a) a resulting reduced feeling of threat/fear - stress often being a symptom trigger, and

(b) a resulting sense of relief and safety as would occur for example in a person experiencing a natural disaster when they become aware threat is no longer posed, rather than for example experiening further alarm and also much confusion

Examples of symptoms under this umbrella is:

^* understanding the general 'rawness' of the senses can result ing somatic and or religious etc preoccupation

* understanding fully that which is behind the perception the mind Is being read and or having thoughts transmitted/inserted/substracted in/out of it and oris doing likewise to others' minds

* understanding fully that which is behind the perception that media (TV, radio, print) and various every day occurrences are directed at oneself and or providing oneself or others with "messages" and or the perception one is being bugged in one or various ways

* understanding the unusual visual, auditory, and other sensory experiences Including how they can impact on for example the communication process and the manner others are perceived and do perceive

It is also important to understand that, although prior to developing psychosis and related symptoms the afflicted person may not have in any way believed in the possibility of '"mind reading/transmission" and other similar ideas often held by persons suffering psychotic symptoms, psychosis can be, and usually, is extremely convincing and therefore usual beliefs invariably often simply cannot ring true, However, when psychosis is fully understood - that is, provided is valid and logical explanation of any and each 'psychotic' "event/situation"- usual or more appropriate thinking can readily prevail, and is obviously very much welcomed by all parties concerned.

Procedure 2:

Step 1 : Assessing delusions Io siphon a understanding of the patient/s belief systems

Step 2 : Education and involving regular classes or regular private instruction of schizophrenic and or other patients with affliction of a psychotic illness/psychotic features and where appropriate their primary care-givers and or loved ones, on all aspects of 'sensory malfunction' Including all potential resulting thought and other mental and related processes and aspects, enabling psychosis to be fully understood.

Step 3 : Providing patient/s and through regular classes or private instruction with helpful review and analysts of their belief systems in order to improve their suppression and elimination of 'sensory malfunction' and related delusional thoughts and other related symptoms. This has potential for particular benefit for especially patients whom due to perhaps youth or limited experience embrace much magical thinking when well or have much difficulty grasping for example 'voices' are not in any way from any source outside their brain.

Note (A): Reduced stigma should follow a proper understanding of psychosis, in that the current broad and intimidating descriptions of symptoms - that is for example distorted thinking, odd or bizarre perceptions and ideology, irrational behaviour- need no longer apply and therefore a clear insight into the mind of a psychotic person, including that the afflicted person is in fact essentially simply logically responding to sensory stimuli as does a "normal" person however the sensory stimuli/information being received by the psychotic person is commonly bizarre and often frightening, and quite foreign.

Note (B): Additional benefit of proper education of patient/s with a psychotic illness/disorder about psychosis is that once a patient is able to fully recognise that psychotic "events" can be completely explained/justified, the doubt invariably held as a result of the currently less Informing explanations or understanding of schizophrenia and similar conditions is able to be overcome, and furthermore any real/actual experiences reminiscent of for example alarming themes associated with past psychosis are less likely to trigger symptom return and the associated potential resultant snowball effect, that is, cause a florid psychosis or major psychotic episode.