Psychosis in bipolar disorder is not a separate illness — it is a symptom that can emerge during episodes of extreme mania or severe depression, temporarily altering how a person perceives, interprets, and interacts with the world around them.
Psychosis during mania may bring grandiose delusions — beliefs of special powers or divine mission — alongside racing hallucinations and a sense that ordinary rules no longer apply.
Psychosis in depression tends toward nihilistic delusions — a certainty of catastrophic failure or guilt — paired with sensory distortions that deepen disconnection from reality.
It felt like I was watching my own life through glass —
present, yet entirely unreachable.
— Person living with Bipolar I Disorder