One woman living with psychosis has said the condition is 'just another type of illness' that is less understood than others.

Psychosis is a condition that causes people to perceive or interpret things differently from those around them.

Lisa Callaghan was living in Italy when she had her first episode, but did not realise what was happening.

She told Lunchtime Live it began with hallucinations.

"I was away in Italy and it just kind of after coming out of the pandemic and lockdown," she said.

"Quite suddenly I started to hallucinate and think that people were after me or following me.

"I thought there was something happening with my phone and technology; I was very scared and worried.

"It was quite a scary experience when I was going through it, and I didn't know what was going on".

'It felt real'

Ms Callaghan said she was not aware that she was hallucinating.

"Some of my hallucinations were on screens - on my iPad, on my phone, on my TV - and I thought that people were controlling them," she said.

"I wasn't aware that this was a hallucination - it felt real at the time".

Ms Callaghan said her parents were concerned for her welfare, especially as she was living abroad.

"They were getting a lot of confused phone calls from me and messages," she said.

"Nobody could really understand what was happening.

"One of my friends, Jessica, was actually really good: she thought I was hallucinating and going through something.

"She actually was the one who said that I should go to the hospital, that I needed the doctor's help".

Lisa Callaghan. Picture: Supplied

Ms Callaghan said the condition is one she had not heard of before.

"I would have thought I knew quite a lot about mental health, but I didn't really know," she said.

"When they said 'psychosis' I thought, 'That's just an excuse for what's happening' because I thought something was going on.

"It's kind of hard to comprehend when you're going through it".

She said there needs to be more understanding about the condition.

"I was quite unwell for about five or six months, and then gradually I kind of got my head around it.

"There is this feeling of kind of shame or embarrassment, that you feel like there's something wrong.

"But it's just another type of illness, really - it's just less understood," she added.

Listen back below:

More information on psychosis can be found here

Main image: Lisa Callaghan. Picture: Supplied