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Psychosis Discussion for the Witchy/Pagan Folks In My Phone

also i'm not an expert, this is based off personal experience, personal research, formal research (my past college classes, but it's not like we had an in depth class for psychosis specifically, we just touched on it for like a week or two total), what i've heard from others, and observation

u know what. no one tells y'all what to do if you think ur in spiritual psychosis* (or just psychosis). all they do is make fun of people they think are in psychosis and use the term like a weapon.

here's what to do

eat enough (this one is underrated. how will your brain be able to work properly if not given the fuel? it takes energy to emotionally regulate and double check conclusions you come to)

drink water

try to get enough sleep (also underrated)

do something non psychosis related. draw something silly, or go sit outside, or watch a comfort show. observe how your body feels without assigning explanations to why it feels that way. these are all to help ground yourself. (sometimes grounding is explained with a spiritual lens and you may not want to get into that if you're trying to take a break from spirituality). if you're delusions are about deities, take a break from your deities. they won't be mad, they've seen psychosis before and they love you.

address your distress. i can't speak much for manic feeling types of psychosis, my episodes were very anxiety based. but for anxiety, use coping mechanisms for calming yourself down. do something that doesn't harm you but makes you feel safe.

if you can, get professional help, or get medications adjusted if that's what's causing it

if you know the source or something heavily influencing your psychosis, distance yourself from it. witchtok is known for fearmongering and feeding peoples psychosis

reach out to friends if you've been isolating yourself. you can just spend time together doing something chill. something that helped my episodes was being with people who weren't tied to the themes of my psychosis, so if your psychosis is tied to witchcraft for example, hang out with friends who don't do anything witchy, or stay off the topic of witchcraft if your friends are all into witchcraft

hold off on major decisions like large purchases, getting rid of lots of personal items, moving, etc until you feel better and more stable

a bonus tip is to spend time away from people who are toxic or who make you feel confused and off kilter. if there's someone who for reasons you can or cant explain, just repeatedly makes you feel bad about yourself or guilty or angry, it might be because they're toxic in a way you havent noticed yet. if i had a nickel for every time someone told me they thought they were going insane until they spent less time with someone who turned out to be an abuser, and they suddenly got better, i'd have three nickels including myself.

i see too many people in witch/pagan communities acting like the psychosis is just when people are weird or when believe weird things and it's such a bold thing to say when we literally talk to gods and/or light candles to get money. it makes it seem like the bad part of psychosis is being weird or cringy. that is not what is destructive about psychosis. what's destructive is the social isolation, obsession, anxiety, paranoia, lack of self care, and big impulsive decisions. if you feel safe, are safe, and aren't harming others, your beliefs are not a major concern. you're either right, or harmlessly wrong. nothing wrong with that. so stop bullying people you think are weird, i will always repeat this sentiment

if something happens in your practice that is a little wacky, just keep taking care of yourself. the priority is your safety and others' safety. there's a lot of fearmongering in witchy spaces about being wildly wrong meaning you're in psychosis, but being wrong is okay. do some research (not on social media), ask for signs you can't miss, get a tarot reading from someone you trust, and remember spirituality is just wacky sometimes. we can't prove every single spiritual occurrence. we can only prove if we're physically taken care of. if you're safe, and the people around you are safe, and you don't feel overwhelmed with paranoia or anxiety or mania, you're probably okay to move forward, and just accept you could be right or wrong.

also, coming out of psychosis is a slow process. you're changing your view of your own reality. that doesn't happen in one night.

*i want to add to this, it is possible to know you're in psychosis, it's just not always common. if you are feeling like everyone is out to get you (thinking everyone is trying to hex you or you're being constantly spiritually attacked), or that you are more special than everyone (thinking youre a gods favorite devotee, that you're the most powerful witch, thinking you're the only one stopping an astral war, for me i thought i personally would cause the rapture), feeling like everything is a sign, those could be delusions. (the ones i'm describing here are delusions of persecution, grandeur, and reference. i see these most often in witchy/pagan/spiritual spaces)

also this might just be me, i have chronic dissociation, OCD, GAD, and such but psychosis has its own separate feeling of "i'm losing it". it feels like that mental thing you get in dreams where you just don't question anything. once you're out of it, you're like "why did i just believe that???". and like you can question yourself in a dream, but you'll only catch one thing. you'll recognize the clocks are look weird, but you won't notice the walls changing colors, you know? so if you feel that half-in a dream, reasoning isn't working right feeling, that could be a signal too. i think the closest feeling i've had to this was a PTSD (not a cptsd one in this case) flashback after a night of no sleep.

okay i'm rambling. tldr: if you think you're developing are/in psychosis, do basic physical self care (especially eating enough). do things that are simple and fun that isn't related to what is triggering you (so like grounding). social self care, like meeting with friends to do things not related to your psychosis triggers. try to use basic coping skills for anxiety, guilt, fear, things like that. you don't need to dig into why you feel it, just how to calm it down.

and stop bullying ppl online, doesn't matter how insane you think they are

(i have DID and it's hard to keep track of what i say without rambling and switching trains of thought and repeating myself without realizing so if this is confusing. uhh. rip lmao)