Psychosis is when you perceive or interpret reality in a very different way from people around you, it may also be called a 'psychotic experience' or 'psychotic episode'.

Psychosis often begins in young adulthood when a person is in their late teens to mid-20s. However, people can experience a psychotic episode at younger and older ages and as a part of many disorders and illnesses. For instance, older adults with neurological disorders may be at higher risk for psychosis.

This year we’ve been fortunate to work with NHS Wales to revamp Psychosis Wales, the website for information and resources for young people who are experiencing or recovering from psychosis in Wales.

In this episode, we met with Maleeha Akbar and Eleanor Williams.

Maleeha is based in Cardiff and experienced psychosis when she was at university. She now works for Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service and facilitates the Headroom peer support group for young people who have experienced psychosis in Cardiff. Maleeha has kindly shared her experience of recovering from psychosis and how she got involved with the peer support group.

Eleanor is the Clinical Team Leader for Headroom, the service supporting people with psychosis in the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

Psychosis can be frightening and make it difficult to maintain quality of life, but treatment and support are available. With the right treatment, such as therapy and medication, many people recover gradually.

If you or someone you know may be experiencing psychosis, you should contact their GP practice. If there's an imminent danger of harm, call 999 and ask for an ambulance.

• Psychosis Wales website - find details about Headroom Cardiff
• NCMH Research Community - sign up today!
• Brain and Genomics Hub research study

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Did you know that you have the option to guide mental health professionals in your treatment and care in case you become unwell?

Advance Choice Documents (ACDs) give people living with mental illnesses an opportunity to state their wishes and instructions about their treatment and care during future episodes of illness.

They give you a chance to make your voice heard in future mental healthcare decisions by using your knowledge, gained through past experience of illness and healthcare, to guide a clinical team through future episodes of illness. Recent research has suggested that the use of ACDs could reduce the rate of sectioning by up to 25%. 

We chatted to Professor Tania Gergel about her work to raise awareness of this vital tool for people with severe mental illness.

Tania is the Director of Research at Bipolar UK and a Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the Division of Psychiatry at University College London and here at Cardiff University. She’s also the lead for bipolar research at NCMH.

You can read more about ACDs at advancechoice.org

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This podcast discusses the carefully controlled clinical use of MDMA in a therapeutic research setting with specially trained professionals. MDMA remains a class A illegal drug and recreational use can carry significant legal and health risks. Please do not try this at home.

Recent research has found that MDMA-assisted therapy is a safe and effective intervention for severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), but it remains a heavily restricted drug. Dr Mat Hoskins hopes that his research carried out in Cardiff and other studies across Europe will improve the quality of the research investigating this novel treatment approach.

We were thrilled to sit down with Mat to understand what led him to this type of research, why does it work, and what does a session actually involve.

Dr Mat Hoskins is the Lead Consultant Psychiatrist for adults at Traumatic Stress Wales. He also works as a Psychiatric Intensive Care Consultant and has experience using Trauma Focused Psychological Therapies.

Traumatic Stress Wales (TSW) is funded by Welsh Government and aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people of all ages living in Wales at risk of developing or with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). Visit the Traumatic Stress Wales website.

Join our research community

At NCMH, we are fortunate to collaborate with TSW through our Traumatic Stress Research Group. If you're interested in joining our research community and hearing about the research projects that are available to get involved in, you can sign-up on our NCMH website.

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