Strategies for Treating Schizophrenia - Research Paper Example

? Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that has a very negative impact on the brain of an individual.People suffering from this disorder may hear strange voices, which a normal human being will not hear. Victims of this disorder always believe that other people are always trying to manipulate and control their minds. This terrifies them greatly, and makes them to withdraw their associations with family members and friends. These people have poor communication skills, and it is difficult to understand them when they talk. They may also sit for longer period of hours, just staring at the sky without talking, or engaging in any form of communication (Lieberman, Stroup and Perkins, 2012). This disorder also has a negative impact on the family members of the victim. This is because people with this disorder are unable to find a job, or hold onto one. On this basis, they always rely on the support of family members and well wishers within the society. The traditional methods of treating schizophrenia involved the use of antipsychotic medications. Of late, there is an increase the number of research that examines other options of treating this medical condition. These researchers are based on the new methods of understanding pathophysiology of schizophrenia. The results from these researchers led to the development of new strategies of treating schizophrenia, and this includes using a single modality treatment method, or an adjunct conventional approach (Kawata and Revicki, 2008). The latest result from these researches in the treatment of schizophrenia involves the creation of machineries whose responsibility is to maintain the flow of the potassium within the cells. According to Lieberman, Stroup and Perkins (2012), various experiments reveal that this process of treatment could help the body of the victim to correct the various disorganized activities which occurred in the brains of the individuals suffering from schizophrenia. Maintaining the flow of potassium in the cells also helps in removing the cardiac side effects that are associated with anti-psychotic treatments/medications. Kawata and Revicki (2008) maintain that linking the genetic makeup of an individual with a disorder such as schizophrenia requires that they have to demonstrate a statistical association, as well as demonstrating how the version of the gene acts in a biological manner to confer the risk under consideration (Lambert, 2012). In developing this treatment, Kawata and Revicki denotes that schizophrenia-like reaction on the mental processing and brain circuitry of healthy and normal people. The people who helped in this research who were individuals whose vulnerability to contacting the disorder was high. Potassium was therefore injected into their gene channels, for purposes of studying how their brains will react. To the surprise of scientists, these people did not show any signs of psychotic behavior, and thus the conclusion that injecting an individual’s cells with potassium can help in treating the schizophrenia (NWTH | Elements, 2013). From this study, scientists were able to identify evidence that schizophrenia actually occurs from the various complex interactions between the environment and the various multiple genes (Lieberman, Stroup and Perkins, 2012). This is because they were able to link the various genetic makeups of individuals with the occurrence of the disorder (Hodgins, 2008). Lieberman, Stroup and Perkins (2012) denotes that in a recent research, there was a regulation of the potassium flow in the cell. The purpose of this study was to control the neurons when they electronically release or discharge a chemical messenger whose purpose is to signal the neighboring neurons in their respective circuit. The roles of dopamine were to regulate the flow of potassium in the cells. During this process, Isoform gene 3.1 is regarded as the main area of focus, and this is because concentrating on this specific gene could result in sparing any side effects related to the heart. This process also improves the disorganization of a neural firing characteristic of the brain of an individual who suffers from schizophrenia. Another recent method of treating this disease is the use of the partial dopamine agonistic technique. The dopamine hypothesis denotes that there exists a hyperdopaminergic state of a gene in the cortical mesolimbic tract. This causes the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. The hypodopaminergic state of a gene in the mesocortical tract leads to the emergence of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia (NIMH, 2013). The use of partial dopamine agonistic treatment allows full transmission of the activity of neurons to the synaptic site. Partial agonistic therefore allows the activities of neurotransmission to occur, when they are bound to the receptors of the cell. An example of a popamine patrtial agonist is the Aripiprazole. This methodology of treatment is widely accepted all over United States, and its dopaminergic activity amounts to 10 times more potent, as compared to its serotonergic activity. This directly contrasts antipsychotic treatments like the use of risperidone whose 5HT2A affinity is 10 times more potent, as compared with the dopamine receptor. Kawata and Revicki (2008) denote that Aripiprazole has the capability of balancing the various levels of activities between the postsynapticdopamine receptors, and the presynaptic receptors. For instance, where dopamine concentrations are high, Aripiprazole appears to have the capability of blocking the activities of the receptors. In lower concentrations of dopamine, aripiprazole allows very limited activities. Scientists managed to prove these assertions in a research that involved cloned D2 human receptors. In this research, aripiprazole created an intrictic activity of an approximate level of 30% (NIMH · Schizophrenia, 2013). This was in contrast to haloperidol which did not show any intrinsic activity. This research was based on the hope tha aripiprazole had the capability of enhancing dopaminergic activities at the mesocortical tract, as well as it could reduce the same activity at the mesolimbic tract. This could later on improve the positive and negative signs of schizophrenia. This research was also based on the hope that dopamine activities within the tuberoinfundibular tracts and nigrostriatal tracts would be minimal. This will in turn result to a decrease in the symptoms of schizophrenia. Another new method of treating this disorder is referred to as cognitive behavioral therapy. This is a psychosocial method that is developed to help the various patients suffering from schizophrenia to the gain the capability of recognizing and responding to various arousing stimuli. This technique is also referred to as personal therapy, and it aims at creating a therapeutic umbrella that has the capability of protecting patients from unnecessary personal stress. Hodgins (2008) denotes that this research prooves that the use of personal therapy helps a patient to strengthen their interpersonal skills, such as communicating effectively with friends and family members. It also helps them to be able to control their stress levels, and hence live some healthy lifestyles. Personal therapy, has led to a reduction of relapses amongst patients of schizorephrenia, resulting to an increase in their social affairs. On this basis, these people are able to find work, and hence carter for their basic survival needs. However, the major disadvantages of these forms of treatment are their inability to provide a consistent result on the outcome of the treatment. For example, training in social skills will improve the social skills of the patients; however, it does not have a consistent effect on preventing relapses, and psychopathology, or even increasing the chances of these individuals to gain employment (NIMH · Schizophrenia, 2013). However, some studies are able to denote that cognitive/personal therapy greatly reduces the hallucinations and delusions that people suffering from schizophrenia experience. On this basis, personal therapy therefore improves their ability to effectively socialize within the community. In conclusion, this paper manages to identify these new types of treating schizophrenia. The first method is the injection of potassium in the body cells of an individual with the disorder. The main purpose of this method is to remove the cardiac side effects associated with schizophrenia. The second method that this paper explains is the partial dopamine agonistic method. This method also aims at reducing the symptoms of the disorder, as well as treating the disease. The final method that this paper explains is the personal therapy. This paper denotes that the main aim of this method is to increase the social skills of people suffering from the disorder. This will in turn reduce their stress level, reducing the negative symptoms of the disorder. References: Hodgins, S. (2008). Violent Behaviour among People with Schizophrenia: A Framework for Investigations of Causes, and Effective Treatment, and Prevention. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences,, 363, 2505-2518. Kawata, A., & Revicki, D. (2008). Reliability and Validity of the Social Integration Survey (SIS) in Patients with Schizophrenia. Quality of Life Research, 17(1), 123-135. Lambert, M. (2012). Current schizophrenia (3rd ed.). London: Springer Healthcare. Lieberman, J. A., Stroup, T. S., & Perkins, D. O. (2012). Essentials of schizophrenia. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Pub.. NIMH · Schizophrenia. (n.d.). NIMH · Home. Retrieved October 22, 2013, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/index.shtml NWTH | Elements. (n.d.). Elements Addiction Treatment | Drug Rehab Centers CA FL TN. Retrieved October 22, 2013, from http://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-news/study-finds-better- ways-to-treat-schizophrenia/ Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More