PsychMD.info - Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

What is Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a devastating brain disorder — the most chronic and disabling of the severe mental illnesses. People with schizophrenia often suffer terrifying symptoms such as hearing internal voices not heard by others, seeing things that others cannot see, or believing that other people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts, or plotting to harm them. These symptoms may leave them fearful and withdrawn.

Signs and Symptoms:

hallucinations, or disturbances of sensory perception, may be auditory or visual
delusions = false yet strongly held personal beliefs that result from an inability to separate real from unreal experiences
social isolation or withdrawal
disorganized thinking
unusual speech or behavior

How common is Schizophrenia?

About 1% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 54 (> 2 million people) have Schizophrenia during the course of a given year.

Treatment (combination of psychotherapy, education, support groups, and medication(s) may be helpful):

medications: some of the medications that have been used to treat Schizophrenia include:
- clozapine (Clozaril)
- olanzapine (Zyprexa)
- quetiapine (Seroquel)
- aripiprazole (Abilify)
- risperidone (Risperdal)
- ziprasidone (Geodon)
- haloperidol (Haldol)
- fluphenazine (Prolixin)
- perphenazine (Trilafon)
- pimozide (Orap)
- thiothixene (Navane)
- trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
- loxapine (Loxitane)
- molindone (Moban)
- chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
- mesoridazine (Serentil)
- thioridazine (Mellaril)
rehabilitation programs: emphasize social and vocational training to help patients and former patients overcome difficulties in these areas. Programs may include vocational counseling, job training, problem-solving and money management skills, use of public transportation, and social skills training. These approaches are important for the success of the community-centered treatment of schizophrenia, because they provide discharged patients with the skills necessary to lead productive lives outside the sheltered confines of a mental hospital.
individual psychotherapy: involves regularly scheduled talks between the patient and a mental health professional such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric social worker, or nurse. The sessions may focus on current or past problems, experiences, thoughts, feelings, or relationships. By sharing experiences with a trained empathic person—talking about their world with someone outside it—individuals with schizophrenia may gradually come to understand more about themselves and their problems. They can also learn to sort out the real from the unreal and distorted. Recent studies indicate that supportive, reality-oriented, individual psychotherapy, and cognitive-behavioral approaches that teach coping and problem-solving skills, can be beneficial for outpatients with schizophrenia.
family education: patients with schizophrenia are often discharged from the hospital into the care of their family; so it is important that family members learn all they can about schizophrenia and understand the difficulties and problems associated with the illness. It is also helpful for family members to learn ways to minimize the patient's chance of relapse—for example, by using different treatment adherence strategies—and to be aware of the various kinds of outpatient and family services available in the period after hospitalization.
self-help groups: may be therapeutic because members provide continuing mutual support as well as comfort in knowing that they are not alone in the problems they face. Self-help groups may also serve other important functions. Families working together can more effectively serve as advocates for needed research and hospital and community treatment programs.

Before taking medication for Schizophrenia:

Ask your doctor to tell you about the effects and side effects of the medication he or she is prescribing.
Tell your doctor about any alternative therapies or over-the-counter medications you are using.
Ask your doctor when and how the medication will be stopped. Some medications cannot safely be discontinued abruptly; they have to be tapered slowly under a physician's supervision.
Be aware that some medications are effective only as long as they are taken regularly, and symptoms may occur again when the medications are discontinued.
Work together with your doctor to determine the right dosage of the right medication to treat Schizophrenia.

Reference: National Institute of Mental Health