Schizophrenia Treatment
Schizophrenia is a severe, long-term, and debilitating brain problem that affects people. People with this problem hear voices and they believe that another person is controlling their thoughts, and reading their mind. This can make the person feel frightened with illness and agitation.
The problem occurs between the age of 16 and 30. In the case of men, the symptoms occur at a younger age as compared to females. In many cases, the symptoms do not occur for years and sometimes it occurs quickly.
Schizophrenia treatment can help to relieve most of the symptoms. But, in some cases, the patient needs to cope with the symptoms for a lifetime. Some of the effective treatment recommended by psychiatrists include:
- Medication
- Psychological counseling
- Self-help resources
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia Symptoms is divided into 3 categories:
Positive Symptoms
- Hallucinations
It means a person hears, sees, or smells something which no one else can notice. The most common is to hear voices. The voices may talk to the person warn him of danger, behavior or about other people. Sometimes people hear things which are not there or they smell no one else can detect. - Delusions
These are false beliefs that are not part of a person’s culture. Even after someone gives them the logic the person still believes in delusions. People even feel that someone on the TV is giving them a special message or they are broadcasting their thoughts to them. - Thought disorder
Without logic, the person will jump from one subject to another. Whereas in some cases, the stop suddenly while speaking. - Movement disorders
These appear as agitated body movements. The person can repeat certain movements again and again.
Negative Symptoms
- No Expression.
- Lack of pleasure
- Not able to start and carry out a planned activity
- Speak little even when forced.
People with these symptoms are not able to focus on their hygiene and they need help to do daily activities.
Cognitive Symptoms
Cognitive symptoms are not even noticed and proper tests need to be performed to detect the problem. It includes the following symptoms:
- Poor functioning to process information and make decisions
- Trouble concentrating
- Memory problems
These symptoms can make it hard for people to live a normal life.
Treatment
Some of the Antipsychotic medications are:
- Chlorpromazine
- Haloperidol
- Quetiapine
- Perphenazine
- Fluphenazine
- Clozapine
- Risperidone
- Olanzapine
- Ziprasidone
Psychosocial treatments of schizophrenia
Psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia Psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia can help patients who have stabilized condition by taking antipsychotic medications. With the treatment, the patient can live a peaceful life which will help them to overcome the problem of self-care, communication, daily work, and keeping relationships. Schizophrenia therapy will include the following options:
Rehabilitation : Rehabilitation focuses on vocational and social training so that they can perform better in daily work. The emphasis is given on money management, job counseling, communication skills, and help in daily work. It also addresses the problem of memory and thinking.
Family education : The therapist helps the family members to learn coping skills. This means the family can make sure their loved ones stick to the treatment and take the medication on time. The family should learn where they can find family and outpatient services.
Self-help group : Self-help groups are becoming very common for patients and their families. Self-group helps to know the people they are not alone in this condition and encourage each other to cope up with the problem.