![]() They can also lead to the development of movement disorders, like tremors and tics, but these are more common with older generation antipsychotics (typicals), not newer generation antipsychotics (atypicals). While antipsychotic medication is effective in treating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, it does not address negative symptoms.⁸ In addition, these drugs can have unwanted side effects including weight gain, drowsiness, restlessness, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, dry mouth, and lowered white blood cell count. This can cause a person to stop taking antipsychotic medication, stop participating in therapy, or both, which can result in a relapse into active phase psychosis. Someone with schizophrenia may not recognize that their behavior, hallucinations, or delusions are unusual or unfounded. This is a common concern in schizophrenia because of the symptom of anosognosia, which is the lack of insight and an unawareness of the presence of a disorder. There are long-term injections that have been developed which could eliminate the problems of a patient not regularly taking their medication (called “medication noncompliance”). This can be given as a pill, a patch, or an injection. When schizophrenia is diagnosed, antipsychotic medication is most typically prescribed. Much like the residual subtype, hallucinations and delusions ease at this point (usually with the help of antipsychotic medication and other forms of treatment), and the patient experiences primarily negative symptoms. The most common time a person seeks initial treatment for schizophrenia is during the active phase, when psychosis often makes a dramatic disruption in one’s life and the lives of those around them.Īfter the active phase, the patient enters the residual phase of schizophrenia. The vast majority of their energy and attention is focused on keeping to and protecting their falsely held beliefs or perceptual distortions.⁷ ![]() Someone with active paranoid schizophrenia is consumed by their delusions or hallucinations. They may stay up late at night to catch culprits. This can lead to boarding up their home, blacking out windows, putting objects in front of doors to impede entry, and otherwise blocking or removing items they believe contain listening devices or cameras. ![]() Someone with schizophrenia may be convinced that the government is surveilling them in an attempt to harm them in some way. Odd, untypical behavior flows as a result of these delusions and hallucinations. These voices can be demeaning or hostile, driving a person to do things they would not do otherwise. A patient may hear a voice or voices in their head that they do not recognize as their own thoughts or internal voice. Both of these experiences can be persecutory or threatening in nature. The paranoia in paranoid schizophrenia stems from delusions-firmly held beliefs that persist despite evidence to the contrary-and hallucinations-seeing or hearing things that others do not. They may experience impaired motor or cognitive functions, including disorganized speech and disorganized or catatonic behavior. After the prodromal phase, the patient enters the active phase of schizophrenia, during which they experience debilitating thoughts and perceptual distortions. The positive symptoms of schizophrenia-things like hallucinations and delusions-are less likely to go unnoticed. If the person is experiencing the onset of schizophrenia, early intervention is the best chance of a positive outcome.⁶ Displaying all these symptoms doesn’t necessarily indicate the presence of schizophrenia, but these are indications that a mental health evaluation is advised.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |