severe anxiety with psychotic features

 

Anxiety Psychosis: What it is and How to Control it (calmclinic.com)

Anxiety Psychosis Treatment

Experts theorize that the reason the brain tends to have psychosis-like symptoms during extreme anxiety is that the brain doesn't know how to cope with extreme stress, and uses some of the symptoms of psychosis as coping mechanisms.

In many ways, stress overloads the brain so strongly that many of its functions shut down in order to be less affected by the stress. Once the anxiety decreases the brain no longer needs to protect itself and the symptoms go away.

So in many ways, part of reducing the psychosis is simply waiting it out.

There are ways to get yourself "back" to reality. Psychologists often advise utilizing your senses to make sure you feel yourself in the present. For example, running your hands under cool water and then focusing on the cool feeling can "snap" you back to the present. Focusing on different objects and describing the colors, smells, and sounds can help too. These activities essentially ground you in reality so that you're not stuck in your thoughts.