What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder. More than 24 million people around the world are suffering from this disease. Men and women are equally affected by this disorder.
Study shows that the cause of Schizophrenia is a chemical imbalance in the brain. sometimes the brain secretions Dopamine and serotonin get imbalanced, and due to this imbalance, the messages the brain receives get mixed up and the mind gets confused. Genetic and environmental factors also cause this disorder. According to one school of thought, this disorder divides the patient's personality into many parts. Usually, it starts at an early age but it gets intense over some time it gets aggravated between 20 to 30 years of age. social withdrawal and extreme isolation are the marked features of schizophrenia.
But the other philosophy about this disorder is that the person gets mostly affected by this disease in older age. In short, there are no particular criteria that could be fixed for this disease. But one thing is very clear those persons who have weak nerves get very easily caught by this disorder. Schizophrenia’s symptoms aggravate mostly in the summer period.
Schizophrenia symptoms.
1Believes that what other people are saying is not true (delusions)
Hearing, seeing, tasting, feeling, or smelling things that others do not experience (hallucinations)
Disorganized speech and behavior
Lack of behaviors or feelings that usually are present, such as:
Losing interest in everyday activities, like bathing, grooming, or getting dressed
Feeling out of touch with other people, family, or friends
Lack of feeling or emotion (apathy)
Having little emotion or inappropriate feelings in certain situations
Having less ability to experience pleasure
Usually feeling sad.
Present memory gets weakened.
Loss of concentration. can not focus on one thing for a long period.
scattered and baseless thoughts.
Arguing on silly issues.
Consider themselves superior to others.
hesitant to speak in the crowd.
In the advanced stage, they think that everybody wants to harm them or people reading their minds.
or some other power controls their thoughts or they have a direct link to God.
They can not have long-lasting relationships with others and have difficulty interacting with people
as a result they have no social life.
Usually, they consider themselves a completely healthy person and don’t realize that they have any mental disorder...that’s why their treatment gets quite difficult in some situations because they do not cooperate with their therapists.
Early signs of schizophrenia.
According to the International Mental Health Research Organization (IMHRO), some physical changes can often be seen at the early stage of schizophrenia. like blank and vacant stare-- sudden uncontrollable movement in muscles--jerking and twisting and involuntary movement in limbs and muscles-- speech disorder which was not present before--a sudden change in moods and emotions, losing interest in previous activities.--anxiety, indifference, depression, paranoia.--in some cases, a person has completely changed overnight. If these sudden changes occur then a consultation with the doctor is a must. If these signs are neglected in the early stage schizophrenia gets dangerous and at a certain stage of this disease, suicidal tendencies can be developed.
Schizophrenia affects different people differently and symptoms can vary from person to person. Some people may have many symptoms, while others may only have a few.
In men, the symptoms start showing between their late teens and early 20s. Women usually develop symptoms during their mid-20s to early 30s.
Prevention from Schizophrenia.
It has been proven by researchers that there is more than one cause of this brain disorder. like genetic. environmental or chemical imbalances in the brain. In that case, the prevention of this disease gets more difficult. The number one effort for reducing the risk we can make is, that if a person knows that he or she is genetically at risk of this illness then they need to be extra conscious about the initial signs and immediately consult the psychotherapist.
Everybody should try to free their mind from unwanted worries. Which is difficult but not impossible. Try to live in a healthy environment.
If anyone experiences signs similar to the symptoms of schizophrenia which has been given above, whether in themselves or their near ones they should immediately check them and go for treatment.
Like any other illness, if we start treatment of schizophrenia at early stages, the chances are very bright that the patient would start living almost a normal life. As we know that there is more than one cause of this brain disorder so the treatment is also based on multiple methods.
It is a lifetime treatment and the method of treatment changes with time as the condition of the patient change with age and over time.
Anti-psychotic drugs help a lot in improving patients' conditions. These medications reduce the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia and usually allow the patient to function more effectively and appropriately. Anti-psychotic drugs are the best treatment now available, but they do not “cure” schizophrenia or ensure that there will be no further psychotic episodes. Only a specialized physician or a trained psychotherapist can prescribe the dosage of these drugs. there is more than one antipsychotic drug available now but the right drug should be chosen according to the condition of the patient.
Schizophrenia is a combination of mood disorder, thought disorder, and anxiety disorder so we need to use a combination of anti-psychotic drugs to treat it. Anti-psychotic drugs help in normalizing the biochemical imbalance which is a very prominent cause of schizophrenia. These drugs effectively control the hallucination, delusion, and confusion of schizophrenia.
Coping with a loved one who has schizophrenia.
It is often seen that any mental illness is considered a stigma. And usually, people feel shy to accept that they have a family member who is suffering from any kind of mental illness. First of all, we need to realize that any mental problem including schizophrenia is not anybody’s fault, it is just like any other physical disease, so there is no need to hide it from others. But yes of course seeing any family member or loved one suffering any ailment is really painful but the caregiver should be very patient, especially when someone is fighting with any mental disorder. In the majority of cases, the patient of schizophrenia does not accept that he or she needs any medical help, they think that they are 100% OK in their behaviors and thoughts, this symptom is called Anosognosia.
As a caregiver, it is very important to understand the disease and be patient with the patient. It would be much better if all the family members divide our responsibilities instead put all the burden on one family member because it is a full-time job. keeping the relationship in good shape is very important, love and politeness have a great healing power so caregiving is not only that you give a patient medication on time and take him to the doctor but for a mental patient you should be very kind, talk to them and listen to them and try to indulge them in some kind of positive and creative physical and mental activity, which could help in making them busy, by doing this their brain starts working productively. and also make themselves feel useful. This kind of help is also called family therapy for schizophrenia. Because family can play an important role to support a patient, not only that they are more concerned but they know the patient and his habits much better.
Schizophrenia treatment by counseling.
Counseling helps in developing a good relationship, and builds a patient’s confidence, it can take place one in one counseling or a group session which helps a patient in making friends and socializing.
Psychotherapy.
Taking help from a trained psychologist can also be quite useful in managing schizophrenia. One-to-one sessions between a therapist and patient sometimes show remarkable results, in this therapy, the selection of a psychologist or a psychiatrist is very important, the results should be expected only if the patient has complete faith and confidence in his therapist otherwise it is a useless practice. In this treatment, patients can talk freely about their fears, and past/present issues. their feelings and emotions etc. With the help of a trained therapist patients can learn how to handle their own daily issues, understand their illness and learn how to live a healthy life with this disorder.
There are a few more important treatments available like Hypnotherapy, and NLP. Reiki and some other alternative therapies can be used for treating schizophrenia.
Myths and misconceptions about schizophrenia.
A common thinking about schizophrenia is that most schizophrenia patients are violent. they can not understand or think properly or clearly, and often they have to get admitted to a mental asylum. They all are misconceptions and the reality is that if a schizophrenia patient gets proper care and treatment, he can live a normal life and do the routine work like other mentally healthy people. And there is no need to get them admitted to mental asylums.
Without a proper examination by a trained professional, it is not right to assume that a person has schizophrenia just because of feeling sad, depressed, or have anxiety.
It is true that in the majority of cases schizophrenia is incurable but with proper treatment a person can live a normal life like a diabetic and heart patient.
It is a myth that a schizophrenic can not take decisions, are unproductive, and can not manage their daily tasks, but the truth is that because schizophrenia does not always have the same causes and symptoms, the signs and indications also vary from person to person.
One more misconception is that all anti-psychotic drugs which are used for treating schizophrenia are not safe and have lots of side effects. This is absolutely wrong, it is widely seen that if these medications were given under the supervision of a good and trained therapist, the side effects would hardly be seen.
it is a vast subject so we will try to cover more aspects of this disorder from time to time.
It is a lifetime treatment and the method of treatment changes with time as the condition of the patient change with age and over time.
Anti-psychotic drugs help a lot in improving patients' conditions. These medications reduce the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia and usually allow the patient to function more effectively and appropriately. Anti-psychotic drugs are the best treatment now available, but they do not “cure” schizophrenia or ensure that there will be no further psychotic episodes. Only a specialized physician or a trained psychotherapist can prescribe the dosage of these drugs. there is more than one antipsychotic drug available now but the right drug should be chosen according to the condition of the patient.
Schizophrenia is a combination of mood disorder, thought disorder, and anxiety disorder so we need to use a combination of anti-psychotic drugs to treat it. Anti-psychotic drugs help in normalizing the biochemical imbalance which is a very prominent cause of schizophrenia. These drugs effectively control the hallucination, delusion, and confusion of schizophrenia.
Coping with a loved one who has schizophrenia.
It is often seen that any mental illness is considered a stigma. And usually, people feel shy to accept that they have a family member who is suffering from any kind of mental illness. First of all, we need to realize that any mental problem including schizophrenia is not anybody’s fault, it is just like any other physical disease, so there is no need to hide it from others. But yes of course seeing any family member or loved one suffering any ailment is really painful but the caregiver should be very patient, especially when someone is fighting with any mental disorder. In the majority of cases, the patient of schizophrenia does not accept that he or she needs any medical help, they think that they are 100% OK in their behaviors and thoughts, this symptom is called Anosognosia.
As a caregiver, it is very important to understand the disease and be patient with the patient. It would be much better if all the family members divide our responsibilities instead put all the burden on one family member because it is a full-time job. keeping the relationship in good shape is very important, love and politeness have a great healing power so caregiving is not only that you give a patient medication on time and take him to the doctor but for a mental patient you should be very kind, talk to them and listen to them and try to indulge them in some kind of positive and creative physical and mental activity, which could help in making them busy, by doing this their brain starts working productively. and also make themselves feel useful. This kind of help is also called family therapy for schizophrenia. Because family can play an important role to support a patient, not only that they are more concerned but they know the patient and his habits much better.
Schizophrenia treatment by counseling.
Counseling helps in developing a good relationship, and builds a patient’s confidence, it can take place one in one counseling or a group session which helps a patient in making friends and socializing.
Psychotherapy.
Taking help from a trained psychologist can also be quite useful in managing schizophrenia. One-to-one sessions between a therapist and patient sometimes show remarkable results, in this therapy, the selection of a psychologist or a psychiatrist is very important, the results should be expected only if the patient has complete faith and confidence in his therapist otherwise it is a useless practice. In this treatment, patients can talk freely about their fears, and past/present issues. their feelings and emotions etc. With the help of a trained therapist patients can learn how to handle their own daily issues, understand their illness and learn how to live a healthy life with this disorder.
There are a few more important treatments available like Hypnotherapy, and NLP. Reiki and some other alternative therapies can be used for treating schizophrenia.
Myths and misconceptions about schizophrenia.
A common thinking about schizophrenia is that most schizophrenia patients are violent. they can not understand or think properly or clearly, and often they have to get admitted to a mental asylum. They all are misconceptions and the reality is that if a schizophrenia patient gets proper care and treatment, he can live a normal life and do the routine work like other mentally healthy people. And there is no need to get them admitted to mental asylums.
Without a proper examination by a trained professional, it is not right to assume that a person has schizophrenia just because of feeling sad, depressed, or have anxiety.
It is true that in the majority of cases schizophrenia is incurable but with proper treatment a person can live a normal life like a diabetic and heart patient.
It is a myth that a schizophrenic can not take decisions, are unproductive, and can not manage their daily tasks, but the truth is that because schizophrenia does not always have the same causes and symptoms, the signs and indications also vary from person to person.
One more misconception is that all anti-psychotic drugs which are used for treating schizophrenia are not safe and have lots of side effects. This is absolutely wrong, it is widely seen that if these medications were given under the supervision of a good and trained therapist, the side effects would hardly be seen.
it is a vast subject so we will try to cover more aspects of this disorder from time to time.
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