Positive Experiences of Psychosis: A Review

Experiences of psychosis, including auditory and visual hallucinations, are pathologized and stigmatized within healthcare settings and societies at large (particularly Anglo-European cultures). Yet, positive experiences of psychosis have been documented in research. The purpose of this article was to conduct a review of positive first-person accounts of psychosis published in two peer-reviewed, English-medium journals: Psychosis and Schizophrenia Bulletin from 1979 to 2022. Our search yielded 14 first-person accounts of positive experiences of psychosis. Occupational therapy practitioners should avoid pathologizing and medicalizing clients' lived experiences, staying open to potentially positive attributes of those experiences.