Schizophrenia White Paper

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Psychological Disorders and Their Treatment



Schizophrenia is a chronic brain or psychological disorder that causes the sufferer to experience hallucinations, have paranoid delusions, engage in confused speech, have trouble thinking clearly, and lose the ability to function in a normal manner. According to the DSM-V (2013), the diagnosis criteria for schizophrenia states that these symptoms must last at least in duration for 6 months and there should be at least one month in which the symptoms are active and are negatively affecting the person’s life—i.e., the individual’s ability to work or socialize. While the WHO (2017) notes that there are more than 20 million people all over the world who suffer from schizophrenia, it is a treatable disorder. This paper will discuss the disorder, its symptoms and treatments that are available.



The symptoms of schizophrenia include: hallucination, paranoid delusions, exaggerated or distorted perceptions, beliefs or actions, confused or disordered thinking, problems concentrating, a possible catatonic state, a loss of willpower, and an inability to ward off overwhelming thoughts that can cripple a person’s ability to function normally. Smith (2007) notes that the disorder accounts for “half of all admissions to psychiatric hospitals, costs $40 billion a year to treat in the United States, and is one of the top ten causes of disability worldwide” (p. 77). Moreover, while some people may have these symptoms intermittently, a person with schizophrenia will exhibit these symptoms over a long duration of time.
Identifying the disorder depends upon viewing these symptoms over the course of half a year and seeing them actively exhibited for at least an entire month over that duration. A person who only exhibits these signs for a few days and then they disappear for months on end before reappearing may not have this disorder and should be evaluated for another.



Types of treatment that are available to help a person who suffers from schizophrenia include: therapy and pharmacological interventions. Usually, schizophrenia patients are prescribed a combination of counseling therapy and drug intervention to help produce a stabilizing effect on the mind. Pharmaceutical treatments include antipsychotic mood stabilizers: these are called neuroleptics and may be used to help stifle mental disturbances. Therapy is another treatment that can be used to help the patient to direct impulses more appropriately. Therapies include the use of support group therapy, psychosocial therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and so on. Leucht,….....

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References

DSM-V. (2013). American Psychiatric Association. Retrieved from https://www.psychiatry.org/psychiatrists/practice/dsm

Leucht, S., Cipriani, A., Spineli, L., Mavridis, D., Örey, D., Richter, F., Samara, M., Barbui, C., Engel, R.R., Geddes, J.R. and Kissling, W. (2013). Comparative efficacy and tolerability of 15 antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis. The Lancet, 382(9896), 951-962.

Turkington, D., Kingdon, D., & Turner, T. (2002). Effectiveness of a brief cognitive—behavioural therapy intervention in the treatment of schizophrenia. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 180(6), 523-527.

Smith, D. (2007). Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Hearing Voices and the Borders of Sanity. NY: Penguin Books.

WHO. (2017). Schizophrenia. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/schizophrenia/en/

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