psychosis

Last reviewed 01/2018

A psychosis is any major mental disorder of organic or emotional origin that is marked by a derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality. A psychosis is characterised by loss of insight into the fact that one is mentally ill, usually as part of a more general disturbance of the normal relationship between reality and imagination, fact and fantasy.

The two most important symptoms of a psychotic disorder are hallucinations and delusions.

These are defined in the ICD-9 categories 290-298.