Start treatment as soon as possible following the first episode of psychosis. It's important for your early recovery.
People with Schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality, which can be distressing for them and for their family and friends that affects how a person Thinks, Feels, and Behaves.
Schizophrenia can make it difficult to participate in usual, everyday activities causing impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational, and other important areas of life. People with Schizophrenia often also experience persistent difficulties with their cognitive or thinking skills, such as memory, attention, and problem-solving.
Schizophrenia symptoms can differ from person to person, but they generally fall into three main categories: Psychotic, Negative, and Cognitive.
Psychotic Symptoms:
Changes in the way a person thinks, acts, and experiences the world. People with psychotic symptoms may lose a shared sense of reality with others and experience the world in a distorted way. For some people, these symptoms come and go. For others, the symptoms become stable over time. Psychotic symptoms include:
Hallucinations-
When a person sees, hears, smells, tastes, or feels things that are not actually there. Hearing voices is common for people with schizophrenia. People who hear voices may hear them for a long time before family or friends notice a problem.
Delusions-
When a person has strong beliefs that are not true and may seem irrational to others. For example, individuals experiencing delusions may believe that people on the radio and television are sending special messages that require a certain response, or they may believe that they are in danger or that others are trying to hurt them.
Thought disorder- When a person has ways of thinking that are unusual or illogical. People with thought disorder may have trouble organising their thoughts and speech. Sometimes a person will stop talking in the middle of a thought, jump from topic to topic, or make up words that have no meaning.
Movement disorder-
When a person exhibits abnormal body movements. People with movement disorder may repeat certain motions over and over
Negative Symptoms:
These symptoms are sometimes mistaken for symptoms of depression or other mental illnesses.
Cognitive Symptoms:
Problems in attention, concentration, and memory. These symptoms can make it hard to follow a conversation, learn new things, or remember appointments. A person’s level of cognitive functioning is one of the best predictors of their day-to-day functioning. Cognitive functioning is evaluated using specific tests. Cognitive symptoms include:
Several factors may contribute to a person’s risk of developing Schizophrenia, including:
Genetics- Schizophrenia sometimes runs in families. However, just because one family member has schizophrenia, it does not mean that other members of the family also will have it. Studies suggest that many different genes may increase a person’s chances of developing schizophrenia, but that no single gene causes the disorder by itself.
Environment-
Brain structure and function-
Substance Abuse-
Current treatments for Schizophrenia focus on reducing psychotic and negative symptoms and helping individuals, improve day-to-day functioning, and achieve personal life goals, such as completing education, pursuing a career, and having fulfilling relationships.
Antipsychotic medications constitute the main part of treatment. They can help make psychotic symptoms less intense and less frequent. These medications are usually taken every day in pill or liquid forms. Some antipsychotic medications are given as injections once or twice a month. People respond to antipsychotic medications in different ways. If a person’s symptoms do not improve with one group of antipsychotic medications, they may be prescribed different groups of antipsychotic medication. Many people taking antipsychotic medications experience side effects such as weight gain, dry mouth, restlessness, and drowsiness although with newer available antipsychotics these side effects are less significant.
Sometimes other medications like sedatives can be prescribed for a shorter period of time to manage aggressive/psychotic symptoms.
In patients who does not show response to antipsychotics for adequate period of time or patients who have suicidal ideations ECT can be given.