A person who is psychotic is out of touch with reality. People
with psychosis may hear "voices" or have strange and illogical
ideas (for example, thinking that others can hear their
thoughts, or are trying to harm them, or that they are the
President of the United States or some other famous person).
They may get excited or angry for no apparent reason, or spend a
lot of time by themselves, or in bed, sleeping during the day
and staying awake at night. The person may neglect appearance,
not bathing or changing clothes, and may be hard to talk to--
barely talking or saying things that make no sense. They often
are initially unaware that their condition is an illness. These
kinds of behaviors are symptoms of a psychotic illness such as
schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medications act against these
symptoms. These medications cannot "cure" the illness, but they
can take away many of the symptoms or make them milder. In some
cases, they can shorten the course of an episode of the illness
as well. There are a number of