Schizophrenic Disorders & Treatments

Overview

Schizophrenia is a severe chronic brain disorder that affects millions of people all over the world. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 2.4 million Americans over the age of 18 suffer from this disorder in a given year. There is no cure for schizophrenia but numerous treatments limit the symptoms.

Causes

There is no specific cause identified for schizophrenia. However, there are many factors that are believed to contribute to the illness. These factors are hereditary, genetic predisposition, or environmental conditions. Due to the various severe symptoms, medical professionals are starting to believe that there's more than one factor or cause that produces schizophrenia.

Symptoms

According to the American Psychiatric Association, schizophrenic symptoms vary from mild to severe and are classified into three categories. The Positive symptoms category includes the symptoms of delusions and hallucinations. The Negative symptoms category includes the symptoms of speech loss, inability to develop plans, and the inability to express emotions. The last category is Cognitive symptoms. These symptoms include disordered speech, memory loss, illogical thinking and the inability to pay attention.

Disorders

Based on the specific symptoms, schizophrenia has been classified into five categories. Disorganized schizophrenia is when a person suffers from jumbled speech, incoherent thought process, confusion and emotionless or childlike behavior. They are unable to perform normal activities. Paranoid schizophrenia is when a person suffers delusions about being followed and persecuted to be punished. Their cognitive skills, daily activities, thoughts and actions remain normal.

Catatonic schizophrenia is when individuals are unresponsive to the world around them. They are withdrawn, emotionless and don't want to move. They usually mimic and copy sentences spoken by other people or keep repeating a phrase. Residual schizophrenia is when individuals are in remission and the severity of their delusions has significantly decreased. All other individuals whose symptoms do not fall within the previous categories are classified under the category of undifferentiated schizophrenia.

Drug Treatment

Since there isn't an exact cause or cure for schizophrenia, health professionals can only treat the symptoms by using antipsychotic drugs like Zyprexa, Clozaril, Risperdal and Seroquel. These drugs target dopamine levels in the brain and dull the overactive thoughts and electrical impulses which lead to a reduction in schizophrenic symptoms. Some of the side effects of these drugs are metabolic changes and weight gain. In severe cases, if suspected of self harm, individuals who suffer from this disorder may be hospitalized while the drugs are administered.

Cognitive Therapy

To keep schizophrenic disorders in remission, cognitive behavioral therapy is used for specifically improving social functioning and enhancing self-esteem. Cognitive remediation therapy is designed to help correct the neurocognitive defects suffered through schizophrenia. Through constant supervision and monitoring, this therapy dramatically reduces some of the symptoms associated with schizophrenia such as disorganized behaviors and illogical thought processes.