Depression That Breaks Reality Itself

"Most people think of depression as sadness or low mood, constantly feeling tired and being unmotivated, but there's a far more severe form that can bend or even break reality itself. Psychotic depression, formally known as major depressive disorder with psychotic features, is a condition where the depressive feelings start to shape an individual's perception of reality. In this way, the person starts to suffer deeply, a state of painful despair with seemingly no way out."

"Imagine waking up convinced that you have caused a global catastrophe, or believing your organs have rotted inside your body. Some people hear voices berating them, saying things like "You are worthless" and "You should die." Some even believe they are already dead, also known as Cotard's syndrome. While these can be interpreted as symbolic representations of deeper feelings, for the sufferer, this is as real as the sky is blue."

"Other common delusions may be related to profound guilt and shame or poverty delusions (believing in financial ruin despite objective evidence to the contrary). In psychotic depression, suicidality can reach extreme levels, and these individuals indeed are at high risk for suicide attempts. Catatonia can occur, a state where patients are physically frozen, unable to move or speak. The suffering is profound. People often describe a psychic pain that is more unbearable than physical pain."

Psychotic depression is a severe form of major depressive disorder in which mood symptoms occur alongside delusions or hallucinations that alter perception of reality. Symptoms can include persecutory or guilt-laden delusions, Cotard's syndrome, auditory hallucinations, poverty delusions, extreme suicidality, and catatonia. Sufferers commonly report intense psychic pain described as more unbearable than physical pain and may feel irredeemably broken with no envisioned future. The condition is rare, affecting under 1% of the population, but is highly treatable when identified and managed with appropriate, safe interventions.

Read at Psychology Today