Psychosis: An ever-changing conceptualisation

Abstract

This discussion piece considers how the medical model conceptualises psychosis and how this differs from psychological and relational understandings. It aims to summarise how people are typically supported and normalise these experiences. Whilst the current medical model focuses on neuroscience, other approaches consider the wider, relational contexts in which these occur; subsequently there are a range of interventions. Western psychology must remember that there is cultural variation in psychotic phenomena which shapes how it is experienced and managed. Our modern approaches in categorising and treating psychosis should hold these different frameworks in mind, not forgetting lessons from the past and from different cultures. Consideration is given to how these models have been understood differently throughout history and culture, in comparison with evidence of what may be labelled as psychosis today.