Mental Health Schizophrenia and Mental Illness Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a complex disorder of the brain that distorts how a person perceives reality. Persons afflicted with this condition have great difficulty distinguishing between what is real and what is not. It is marked by hallucinations and delusions that often renders the person incapable of functioning normally in society.

Mental illness:

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness for which a cure in not currently available. It is marked by psychotic episodes where the person loses touch with what is real. The person may experience only one episode or may be plagued by many that occur in cycles, otherwise known as relapses and remissions.

This disorder contains subtypes based on the symptoms:

• Paranoid schizophrenia: False beliefs of persecution


• Disorganized schizophrenia: Confusion and garbled speech with flat affect and childish behavior


• Catatonic schizophrenia: Motionless and appear to be unaware of their environment


• Undifferentiated schizophrenia: Symptoms do not reflect those of the above types


• Residual Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and delusions are reduced but still present.

Symptoms affect different people to varying degrees. There are alterations in ability and personality that can manifest at different times. At onset, symptoms are often acute and oppressive, commonly known as positive (obvious), disorganized, and negative (absence of normal) symptoms. These can be controlled with medication and therapies administered by highly trained mental health personnel.

Mental health:

Schizophrenia treatment's goal is to reduce and control symptoms. The most common treatments for the mental health of those afflicted with this mental disorder include:

Medications: Antipsychotics drugs are not a cure, but aid in reducing the symptoms of delusions and hallucinations. Traditional drugs employed for treatment include: Thorazine, Prolixin, Haldol, Navane, Stelazine, Trilafon and Mellaril. The latest medications used in the treatment of schizophrenia include: Risperdal, Clozaril, Seroquel, Geodon, Zyprexa, and Abilify.

Psychosocial therapy: Psychosocial therapy aids in managing behavioral, psychological, social, and occupational dilemmas, as well as identifying the warning signs and preventing relapse, with the help of individual and group therapeutic psychotherapy sessions.

Hospitalization: While schizophrenia can be treated on an outpatient basis, severe symptoms may require hospitalization, particularly when there is the possibility of the patient hurting himself or others.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): Electrodes are attached to the head and electric shocks are delivered to the brain, leading to seizures and the release of chemical neurotransmitters in the brain. It is rarely used accept in cases where medications are not working.

Psychosurgery: Lobotomy, a surgical technique used to sever certain nerve pathways in the brain. This procedure is irreversible and is why it is only used under the most rarest of circumstances.

People diagnosed with schizophrenia can live productive lives with the proper treatment. Prevention and possible preservation of mental health involves early recognition, diagnosis, and treatment to avoid the debilitating effects of schizophrenia.

by Barb Hicks, RN