Abstract : Psychosis is considered to be the amalgamation of various symptoms that can result in losing contact with reality. Exposure to trauma can lead to the development of psychotic symptoms, such as depression, hypervigilance, flashbacks, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions and so on. The paper aims to explore the role of trauma in psychosis and its possible treatments. Adopting a secondary, qualitative study design, the paper analyses the role of trauma in psychosis. The deductive approach has further helped the study to make logical assertions on the degree of psychosis experienced by patients faced with severe trauma. The results indicate a significant correlation between trauma and psychosis, with negative schema, and rumination as mediators. The four major symptoms related to psychosis are disorganisation, delusion, hallucination and paranoia. Childhood trauma can be manifested as rumination and negative schema leading to suicidal ideation among patients with early psychotic symptoms. Furthermore, childhood trauma is also related to alterations of the brain related to its function and structure and a deficiency of basic neurocognitive abilities. The current treatment models available for psychosis are related to therapeutic sessions, antipsychotic medicines and social support. CBT is considered to be the most beneficial treatment model for psychosis.

Keywords : Psychosis, trauma, CBT, antipsychotic medication, treatment model.