Diagnosing and Treatment of Schizophrenia - Article Example

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a severe, chronic disabling brain disorder that affects whole life of a person. It affects men and women equally and it rarely occurs in children. It is very difficult to diagnose schizophrenia in teens and this happens because the first signs of schizophrenia include a change in friends, drop in grades, sleep problems and irritability. When the disease is developed at young stage, it is known as “prodromal” period. Factors: A combination of factors can predict the presence of schizophrenia disorder that has a high risk of developing the illness. The factors include: Isolating oneself Withdrawing from others An increase in unusual thoughts Family history of psychosis Defining Schizophrenia: The term “schizophrenia” was coined by Eugen Bleular. According to Schizophrenia Research Institute, Schizophrenia is a syndrome or a collection of symptoms and signs that continue over time and it is not a single disease entity like diabetes and tuberculosis. It represents a group of psychiatric conditions that cannot be clearly distinguished from each other and appear to overlap with other psychiatric conditions. Trends: The trends of schizophrenia are that it affects both the genders and it usually begins in teen years or young adulthood and it may occur later in life depending upon the situations. In women, there is later a chance of beginning schizophrenia and if it occurs, it is mainly of mild temperament. In children, schizophrenia occurs after age 5. The people with Schizophrenia disorder may hear voices while other people do not hear and they believe that other people are reading their minds, controlling their minds and plotting them to harm them. This symptom can terrify them and make them ill or completely withdrawn. Another trend of schizophrenia is that the patients of schizophrenia not make sense when they talk and they sit for hours without moving or talking and sometimes people with schizophrenia seem perfectly fine until they talk about what they are really thinking. The families living with the patients of schizophrenia may be affected by this disease too and the people who are working in offices with this disorder have a difficulty in caring them so they rely on the other office colleagues to help them. Symptoms: The symptoms of schizophrenia usually develop slowly over months or years and sometimes they have a number of symptoms of this disorder. The patients have trouble keeping friends and working and they may also have problems with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts or behaviors. The primary symptoms of schizophrenia include: Irritable or tense feeling Trouble concentrating Trouble sleeping The secondary symptoms of schizophrenia include; Bizarre behavior Healing or seeing things that are not present there Lack of emotion Strong held beliefs that are not real Types of Schizophrenia: There are five (5) types of schizophrenia disorder and they are as follows: 1. Paranoid type: it is a type of schizophrenia in which the auditory hallucinations are present but there are no symptoms of thought disorder, disorganized behavior or affective flattening. The symptoms that are present are jealousy, religiosity and somatization. 2. Disorganized type: disorganized type is also known as hebephrenic schizophrenia and the symptoms present are thought disorder and flat affect. 3. Catatonic type: the symptoms seen in catatonic type are disturbances in movement, catatonic stupor and waxy flexibility. In this type the movement of the patient is purposeless. 4. Undifferentiated type: the symptoms are psychotic but the criteria for paranoid, disorganized or catatonic types have not been met. 5. Residual type: it is a type in which the positive symptoms are present at a very low intensity. Diagnosing Schizophrenia: There are no medical tests for finding the disorder of schizophrenia and a psychiatrist should examine the patient to make the diagnosis. The diagnosis is made on an interview for the patient and his family members. The questions are: 1. How long the symptoms have lasted? 2. How the ability to function has changed? 3. What is the developmental background? 4. What is the genetic family history of the patient? 5. How well the medications have worked? 6. What are the symptoms faced by the patient? Annotated Bibliography: Moritz S., Peters M., Karrow A., Deljkovic A., Tonn P. & Naber D. (2009). “Cure or Curse? Ambivalent attitudes towards neuroleptic medication in schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia patients” In this article the neuroleptic non-compliance is mainly discussed and it is said that it remains a serious challenge for the treatment of psychosis and the non-compliance is predominantly attributed to the side-effects, lack of illness insight, reduced well-being and poor therapeutic alliance. The psychiatric patients without psychosis who are increasingly prescribed neuroleptics differ in terms of medication compliance. And they conducted a survey for finding the main reasons on non-compliance. The main reason found for non-compliance after the research was forgetfulness, distrust in therapist and no subjective need for treatment. And after this the patients acknowledge the need and benefits on neuroleptic medication rather than non-compliance. Insel R., Scolnick M. (2006). “Cure therapeutics and strategic prevention: raising the bar for mental health research” In this article a report is formed in which the need for raising the bar for mental health research has been discussed and it is said that psychiatric researchers have pointed the stigma as one of the reason for the lack of progress. This report considers that how the expectations and goals of the research community have contributed to the relative lack of progress. This report argues for approaches that can lead to cures and strategies for the prevention of schizophrenia and mood disorder. Libberman A. J., Joseph P., & Rosenheck A. R. (2005). “Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia” In this article the effectiveness of second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs are compared to older agents that has been incompletely addressed through the newer agents that are currently being used. They compared the first generation antipsychotic, “perphenazine” with several new drugs in a double-blind study. Treatment: The treatment for schizophrenia is given by antipsychotic medications because it is the most effective treatment. Antipsychotic drugs change the balance of chemicals in the brain and can help control symptoms and these medications are usually helpful and they can also cause side effects. So the side effects can be managed, and they should prevent you from seeking treatment for this serious condition. These medications can reduce the symptoms of psychosis in about 7-14 days. The long term of these medications can decrease the risk of relapse. The common side effects form antipsychotic may include: Dizziness Sleepiness Slowed movements Tremor Weight gain But when the problem of schizophrenia is not controlled by several antipsychotic, then the medicine clozapine can be helpful. Schizophrenia is a life long illness and most people with this condition need to stay on antipsychotic medication for life. Support Programs and Therapies: With the usage of antipsychotic medication, sometimes the supportive therapy can be helpful for many people with schizophrenia. Behavioral techniques such as social skills training can be used to improve social and work functioning. The family members and care givers of the patient suffering from schizophrenia should be encouraged to stay with the treatment of schizophrenia and it is important that the person with that disorder learns how to take medications correctly and manage side effects and notice the early signs of a relapse and what do if the disorder relapses and most importantly the patient should learn how to cope with symptoms that occur while taking medication. Conclusion: Schizophrenia is a mind disorder and there are many symptoms of schizophrenia as it affects mostly young people instead of adults and children. The patients should keep their proper care during taking the anti-psychotic drugs and when the patients notice the side effects, they should contact the psychiatrist for urgent help. REFERENCES Schizophrenia. (2009). what is Schizophrenia? Retrieved form http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/what-is-schizophrenia.shtml Tartakovsky M. (2010). Living with schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2010/living-with-schizophrenia/ Schizophrenia. (2011). Schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://www.schizophreniaresearch.org.au/index.php?r=3&menu=About%20Schizophrenia Moritz S., Karow A., & Naber D. (2009). Cure or curse? Ambivalent attitudes towards neuroleptic medication in schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia patients. Retrieved from http://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/mi/article/viewArticle/1449/1715 Insel R.T. & Scolnick M.E. (2006). Cure therapeutics and strategic prevention: raising the bar on mental health research. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1586099/ Libberman J., Perkins D., & Swartz S.M. (2005). Effectiveness of Antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia. The New England journal of medicine retrieved from https://www.mhafc.org/pdf/CATIE-Study.pdf Read More