New research shows that people who have schizophrenia can still live independently, pursue higher education or hold down a demanding job. In fact, many do manage their illness and live full and highly productive lives.
Schizophrenia treatment includes medication, therapy, social and family support, and the use of social services. Treatment must be ongoing, as this is a chronic illness without a cure. When schizophrenia is treated and managed over the long-term, most people can live normal, productive, and fulfilling lives.
People with schizophrenia hold all kinds of positions, including senior managers and other professionals, cleaners and laborers, and salespeople. You may not have experience in a certain field, but if the job tasks fit your abilities, give it a try. Keep an open mind.
Haloperidol, fluphenazine, and chlorpromazine are known as conventional, or typical, antipsychotics and have been used to treat schizophrenia for years.
The main psychological triggers of schizophrenia are stressful life events, such as: bereavement. losing your job or home. divorce.
With medication, most schizophrenics are able to have some control over the disorder. It is estimated that approximately 28% of schizophrenics live independently, 20% live in group homes, and about 25% live with family members.
Avoid using marijuana, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine or other stimulants, and street drugs. They can keep antipsychotic drugs from working well. They can also cause paranoia or make it worse. You might have to take different kinds of drugs for other symptoms, too.
Various figures have been postulated for the proportion of people with schizophrenia who could do a full time job but Fuller Torrey, a psychiatrist in the USA estimates that 15-20% of his patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia could work full time whilst a further 20% could do a part time job.
Schizophrenia is a mental health disorder that may disrupt a person's perception of reality, emotions, social interactions with others, and thought processes. The SSA can assist a person with schizophrenia as the administration considers it a disability.
If your work has started to suffer, disclosing a mental illness may help you explain the situation and get assistance. On the other hand, if you are getting along fine, offering this sensitive information is probably not worth the risk. A critical consideration is the workplace climate.
People with schizophrenia generally live about 15 to 20 years less than those without the condition. Schizophrenia is a complex disease. There are many ways it can result in serious complications.
Schizophrenia usually involves delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that don't exist), unusual physical behavior, and disorganized thinking and speech. It is common for people with schizophrenia to have paranoid thoughts or hear voices.
Social withdrawal
Schizophrenia can lead you to withdraw from socializing or that you isolate yourself in your home. This can be due to, for example, your hallucinations, thought disorders or lost social skills or fear of social contacts.
Left untreated, schizophrenia can result in severe problems that affect every area of life. Complications that schizophrenia may cause or be associated with include: Suicide, suicide attempts and thoughts of suicide. Anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Individuals with schizophrenia are 4 to 7 times more likely to commit violent crimes, such as assault and homicide [4,5], and 4 to 6 times more likely to exhibit general aggressive behavior, such as verbal and physical threats [10,11], compared with the general population.
Don't Say Things Like: “Why Are You Acting Crazy?” Crazy, cuckoo, nuts, and basketcase are a few of the many hurtful and flat-out rude names you should avoid saying to someone with schizophrenia.
Someone experiencing a paranoid delusion may believe they're being harassed or persecuted. They may believe they're being chased, followed, watched, plotted against or poisoned, often by a family member or friend. Some people who experience delusions find different meanings in everyday events or occurrences.
Medication. If you have a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia or delusional disorder, you are likely to be offered an antipsychotic drug to reduce your symptoms. Antipsychotics may reduce paranoid thoughts or make you feel less threatened by them.
Schizophrenia remains one of the more difficult psychiatric disorders to treat, largely because of the different symptoms attached to the disease, as well as the negative side effects like weight gain that come with the medications commonly used.
Antipsychotic medications are the most effective treatment for schizophrenia. Medications such as Risperdal and Zyprexa have been shown to reduce both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia by up to 40%.
Research suggests that schizophrenia occurs due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, which can cause abnormal development in the brain. In people with these risk factors, severely stressful life events, trauma, abuse, or neglect may trigger the condition.