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What is psychosis?

One of the world's leading academics and researchers on psychosis, Professor Sir Robin Murray, explains what psychosis really is.

Click on the video to hear from one of the world’s leading academics and researchers on psychosis, Sir Robin Murray. Here he explores current thinking about how we understand psychosis conditions, their symptoms, brain functioning, and some of the factors that have been identified as playing a role in causing psychosis.

Sir Robin Murray is Professor of Psychiatric Research at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. He was Chairman of the Schizophrenia Commission 2011-12 and knighted in 2011 for his services to medicine.

Here also is an overview of our current understanding of what causes psychosis.

What causes psychosis?

image 1. Illustration of a silhouette of a head with a brain made up of jigsaw pieces. A few pieces are missing and they circle the head. image 2. Illustration of a set of balancing scales with blocks of different sizes

There is no single cause of psychosis. It is caused by a combination of different factors that vary in importance from one individual to another. These can include…

image 1. Illustration of a family tree. A few people are highlighted – signalling a genetic connection. image 2. Illustration of a row of test tubes bubbling away

genetics… biochemical balances in the brain…

image 1. Illustration of an isolated person inside a containing box. image 2. Illustration of a person looking scared whilst a silhoetted person with a baseball bat is framed in a doorway behind them

environmental, social and psychological factors including social isolation… traumatic life experiences…

image 1. Illustration of a drugs paraphernalia and cannabis leaves. image 2. Illustration of a sheet of paper containing different formula equations, which have been scribbled out

and drug use such as cannabis. Importantly, there is no magic formula to explain what causes psychosis.

Illustration of an individual with question marks around him

Different people will experience psychosis for different reasons depending on their own histories and vulnerabilities.

In the next section we’ll be looking at some of the key symptoms of psychosis conditions, starting with hallucinations.

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Caring for People with Psychosis and Schizophrenia

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