Behandeling van een psychotische crisis: een zoektocht naar verbinding en betekenis

Abstract

Treatment of a psychotic crisis: a search for linking and meaning The loneliness of a psychosis is a striking, but underestimated phenomenon. This loneliness is often the result of an attack on linking and of a break with reality when this reality was too painful. By constructing an own, new reality, the psychotic person withdraws from his environment, which often stays behind with a feeling of helplessness. Essential in the treatment of a psychotic crisis is therefore a search for linking. This can be realized at different levels: via ‘being with’, ‘doing with’ and preverbal contacts, language, and connecting with family members and one's own peer group. In this search for linking, the therapeutic team tries to give meaning to the psychosis. An overly painful reality can then be transformed into a bearable experience. In this sense, a psychotic crisis is an opportunity to take a new path in life, pursuing not only recovery but also inner growth. Lasting hope is hereby the vital motor that facilitates connection.