Selena Gomez Shares Her Experience With Psychosis and Bipolar Disorder

Hallucinations

Someone experiencing psychosis can have hallucinations, meaning they hear or see things that aren’t there. This can often appear as if they are responding to something happening internally rather than in the world around them, says Dr. Swartz.

For instance, instead of talking to someone next to them, someone may seem to be paying attention to conversations with people or ideas in their head that aren’t connected to the world around them.

Gomez remembers very little about her episode, other than finding herself in a mental health treatment facility, she says in the documentary.

“If anybody saw what I saw in the state that she was in at the mental hospital, they wouldn’t have recognized her at all,” said Gomez’s friend Raquelle. “I just remember it being very chaotic, and she was hearing all of these voices — they just kept getting louder and louder. I was devastated because psychosis can last anywhere from days to weeks to months to years.”

Delusions

People can also have what are called “ideas of reference,” says Swartz, which means they perceive meaning where there is none. “They may hear a song and believe it has messages specifically for them or about them, beyond just connecting with it emotionally.”

They may also experience what healthcare providers call “thought insertion” or “broadcasting,” says Swartz. This is the belief that someone else is putting thoughts into your brain that aren’t your own. It can also manifest as people reading your thoughts, the feeling that you’re somehow communicating your thoughts to other people, or believing that you’re involved in complicated plots.

Psychosis Signs and Symptoms