First-Person Account: Shannon's First Psychotic Episode

Imagine if you couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality. If you couldn't tell whether what you were seeing or hearing was really there in front of you. What if you discovered you couldn't trust your own perceptions? 

Psychosis is something three out of every a hundred people will experience at some point in their lifetimes. But what exactly is it, and is it something people can learn to live with?

Today we're fortunate to have on the show Dr. Jacob Ballon, the founding co-director of Stanford Medicine's Inspire Clinic, and Shannon Pagdon, a doctoral student, peer counselor, and advocate for those living with psychosis.

Learn More:

• Learn about the Inspire 360 Program at Stanford Medicine
• Explore Pagdon's Psychosis Outside the Box project and additional stories of the lived experience of psychosis from the Hearing Voices Network
• Read: "Psychosis 101: Unmasking one of the brain's most mysterious Malfunctions" (Stanford Medicine, 2024)
• Watch: "Demystifying Psychosis" (Stanford Medicine, 2024)
• Read: "Two key brain systems are central to psychosis, Stanford Medicine-led study finds" (Stanford Medicine, 2024)
• Watch: "Schizophrenia: Early signs and treatment options" (Stanford Center for Health Education, 2022)

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