Overview of Schizophrenia
"Schizophrenia" conjures up terrifying social stigmas propagated by the media's obsession with serial killers who hear voices. Names like Ted Kaczynski, John Hinkley Jr, David Berkowitz and Russell Weston Jr. seem to represent the unknown terrors and mysteriousness of the mind and its dark side. However, the truth about is that it affects roughly 1/100 people world wide to some degree. Sometimes early psychosis may just be a matter of imbalanced levels of Dopamine, Seratonin or Norepinephrine levels, triggered by trauma, stress or the aging process. There are several ways to treat schizophrenia, once diagnosed.
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Sometimes schizophrenia can be a hallucination, but other times it could be a faulty perception or a delusional way of thinking. One schizophrenia sufferer reported: "At the time I thought it was evil. I thought people could transfer themselves, their thoughts and minds, from one body to the next but it was more complex than that. In fact when this transfer occurred you would actually 'see' the person from whom the transfer had been taken.
For example, you imagine person A transferring his or her mind to person B. Although in 'reality' person B is the physical entity before you, person A is the one you actually 'see.' I could actually see both (hence the hallucination). Deception thus existed because of this mind switch. In reality I was looking at a co-worker and nothing more."
The initial schizophrenia drug was Thorazine, but the side effects were daunting. Often patients would develop a gaunt look and the facial muscles would become rigid and legs and arms would sometimes become immovable. While these "neuroleptics" were effective in treating symptoms like severe hallucinations, delusions and psychotic episodes, they affected the nervous system so much that many patients stopped taking the drugs.
Today, atypical anti-psychotic drugs are popular to treat schizophrenia. These drugs include: Clozapine, Zyprexa and Risperdal. The side effects are far less and it is recommended that white blood cells be monitored to ensure optimal health while on these drugs. Clozapine is said to be one of the most effective drugs on the market, though it's not as aggressively marketed because it's not on patent.
While schizophrenia continues to be a mystifying disorder, research suggests that most patients will be able to live productive and rewarding lives if given the right interventions. These interventions include psychosocial and behavior therapy, housing and career guidance, mentoring, a loving and peaceful home environment, as well as anti-psychotic drugs. The more one learns about the illness, the more likely he or she is to cope with this life-long disorder. Often recovering schizophrenics will go on to become mentors for others, doctors or advocates for new forms of mental health treatment.
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Today's Tip On Schizophrenia
The clinical psychology profession has grown from 20,000 to 63,000 practitioners between 1974 and 1990. Research of medical symptoms and mental health treatment is paramount to successful recovery. Ideally, a patient will participate in psychotherapy and behavior therapy sessions, in addition to visiting a medical doctor for physical issues. In the instance of severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, it is especially important that the patient consider anti-psychotic medication, career counseling and support groups to cope.
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