How to deal with Schizophrenia

 

Who is at risk of having Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia affects people globally. It is a mental disorder that can target anyone irrespective of their race, age, gender. Predominantly it begins the onset in ages between 17-25 and strikes the late teens or early twenties age group. It is also seen that this age group is most aware of the psychological health issues and most people of this age group question ‘How to deal with Schizophrenia’ most. However, this is the age that people are mostly unstable due to the growth and development of the brain, which is why early signs of Schizophrenia go unnoticed. If we consider the ethnicity, then Scandinavian and Irish people are more at risk than compared to the Hispanic or Amish groups or the general population.

                In men, the first episode of Schizophrenia develops at an age younger than the women. Women tend to do better than men and recover at faster rates with lower risks of relapses. Genetically, it tends to run in the genes and if you have a family member that has suffered the disease then you may be at some risk of developing Schizophrenia. This risk increases to 10% if your sibling has Schizophrenia and increases to 50% if your identical twin has it.

                                Interestingly this illness shows a preference towards the seasons during onsets too. People born in months of January and April have a 5-10% higher risk than those born in other times of the year. Even patients get admitted to the psychiatric facility more inn months of Summer than in winter.

Are the patients dangerous?

There is a myth surrounding Schizophrenia that the patients are a danger to society and can be extremely violent. However, evidence shows that those cases are less than 3% of the total population suffering from Schizophrenia. The case is that people living with Schizophrenia are at risk of suicide and accidental deaths. Most of the patients of Schizophrenia are not violent and do not display any dangerous behavior. Some become violent if they are going through an episode of psychosis or delusions. Studies have found that in cases when they get violent it is more because of the delusions and not because of hallucinations. Tragically, they are more dangerous to themselves as they often end their own lives over the continuous torture their own brain puts them through. When the rate of suicide and self-inflicted injuries are high, asking the right questions like ‘How to deal with Schizophrenia?’ and reaching out to a psychiatric facility can potentially save a life.

Coping with Schizophrenia

Managing Medication

The research over the subject of Schizophrenia is almost a century old now and the illness is still not completely understood by the scientists working on it. The reason for the delay can be multifaceted. However, the usage of medication has shown to be of use, but the patients generally have a bad track record of adhering to the medication and time schedules. It also matters if the patient is partnered as having someone around to take care of you is generally good.  

   About 70% of the people taking the Antipsychotic drugs report that they are having lesser episodes of psychosis and hallucinations. The accuracy of the Antipsychotics drugs to treat Schizophrenia is similar to Penicillin treating Pneumonia. There is a vast range of antipsychotic drugs that are used to treat. Sometimes people report that taking these drugs made their symptoms disappear altogether. The benefits of these drugs should not be diluted, to say the least. The reason is that previous to these drugs the people were required to be kept in strict confinement for their and other’s benefit.

It is advised that the patients themselves or the family members of the patients stockpile the medications and keep them organized. They can use alarms that are synched on everyone’s phones so that even a single slip up does not happen. Apart from that, they can use medication organizers to keep their meds available easily. If you are living alone and dealing with Schizophrenia, you should strictly maintain a reserve of medication in the case of emergency.

If you slip up on the medication, you’ll begin to feel the impending relapse. These medications stay in the system for about two days but after that things might get a little rough. If you have a hard time remembering the medications, you can ask your doctor for alternative ways of taking them. Cause there’s more to recovery than constantly worrying about ‘How to deal with Schizophrenia?’ you need to strictly abide by the medications.

Coping with Side-effects

A key component in speedy recovery is that the patient suffering from Schizophrenia takes a lead role in acting out their responsibility and consider themselves accountable. Medications are actively managed and made according to the needs of the patients. The medication prescribed for mental issues often has side effects that affect the body. In this case, the anti-psychosis drugs used are known to have side effects that can be contained with a good coping strategy. It is important to note that just asking How to deal with Schizophrenia is just the beginning of a long journey that requires efforts from the patients too.

The modern drugs used to cure Schizophrenia are – Clozapine, Risperidone, Olanzapine, Amisulpride, and  Zotepine. They are unquestionably better drugs than the first generic drugs but they too have their own side effects. Some common side effects include weight gain, anxiety, sleep disruption. Olanzapine and Zotepine can cause some serious weight gain. How does this happen is not very well documented but can further cause complications like heart diseases and diabetes in later life. If weight gain and anxiety are the side effects of the drugs taken by your family members, you can alter their carbs intake and have a better routine with an exercise designed for them. If anxiety is the side effect it can be curtailed by drugs like Valium. Remember that the side-effects of the drugs are just another aspect of drugs and should not be the reason to avoid medications, it can be managed. Here are the things that you can do to counter the side effect of medications

1. Get the right medication for you
2. Change the dosage as per doctor until you find the correct one
3. Continue the medications even if they don’t start working right away
4. If you are planning to finally stop the medication, ask your doctor first, and then decide.
5. The side-effects of antipsychotic drugs can be treated.
6. Read/find out as much you can about Schizophrenia
7. You can also join a support group either online or in-person

An outlook of Schizophrenia

For schizophrenia doctors use a rule of quarters, this explains the outcome of schizophrenia over a decade. It suggests that about 25% of patients will recover completely, another 25% will improve somewhat, another 25% will need serious levels of medicare and support and the last 25% don’t have such positive outcomes. Of the last 25% of patients, 15% will show little or no response to treatments and lead an unproductive life, and the remaining 10% will end in death at their own hand.

However, the silver lining is the fact that everyday research in this subject is making advances, and with newer technologies developing we can see major breakthroughs in the future. Having Schizophrenia is not a life sentence, it can be managed. If brought to psychiatric aid at early stages it can be cured faster and having a supportive family is always a plus. Hope that reading this post has given you some ideas as to How to deal with Schizophrenia. Thank you for reading, we’ll see you next time.