Reality stabilization: a unified framework for psychosis and post-psychotic depression
Georgi Panov, Presiyana Panova
Frontiers in Psychology October 14, 2026 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1805102 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Longitudinal Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Depression |
| Key points | Proposes a "reality stabilization" framework in which psychosis reflects a failure of neurocognitive decoherence (competing states not reduced to one coherent reality) and post-psychotic depression reflects compensatory hyperstabilization (a rigid, negatively valenced reality possibly mediated by altered DMN activity). Argues effective intervention should move beyond dopaminergic blockade toward strategies promoting adaptive network coherence and cognitive integration, while acknowledging the model is hypothetical and empirical evidence is limited. |
Abstract
Both quantum mechanics and cognitive neuroscience challenge the classical view of a passively perceived reality. Instead, they suggest that reality arises through a process of selection and stabilization from a field of possibilities. This article proposes that this “reality stabilization” framework can unify our understanding of psychosis and post-psychotic depression—two conditions that are currently studied as distinct phenomena, and which existing models of predictive coding, dopaminergic dysregulation, and network neuroscience rarely integrate into a single account. We conceptualize psychosis as a failure of neurocognitive decoherence, in which competing perceptual and interpretative states cannot be reduced to a single, coherent reality. Post-psychotic depression, in contrast, is framed as a compensatory hyperstabilization, in which a rigid, negatively valenced reality is restored, possibly mediated by altered DMN activity. The framework suggests that effective intervention must move beyond dopaminergic blockade to include strategies that promote adaptive network coherence and cognitive integration. The model remains hypothetical, and direct empirical evidence for decoherence-like processes, network changes, and the proposed temporal progression is limited. Future work should focus on empirical testing of stabilization and hyperstabilization mechanisms, longitudinal assessment across illness stages, and their possible therapeutic relevance.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Psilocybin-assisted therapy of major depressive disorder using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a therapeutic frame | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Yale Manual for Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy of Depression (using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a Therapeutic Frame) | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Neuroinflammation and neuroprogression in depression: Effects of alternative drug treatments | 2022 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Improving cognitive functioning in major depressive disorder with psychedelics: A dimensional approach | 2021 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry 2003
- Dissociative Model in Patients With Resistant Schizophrenia Frontiers in Psychiatry February 15, 2022
- Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density Psychiatry Research November 10, 2010