For decades, psychologists have devised many treatment regimes for schizophrenia patients, with varying degrees of success and effectiveness. There have been great obstacles in their efforts, mainly due to the fact that patients of schizophrenia lack insight into their impaired conditions. Often patients refuse treatment of any kind because they do not perceive any mental illness associated with their behaviour. In particular, individuals suffering from paranoid schizophrenia regard therapy as intrusions from hostile outside forces, which reduces compliance on the part of the patient (Davison & Neale,1998).
Other problems with treatment programs for schizophrenic’s is that they suffer from both positive and negative symptoms, each requiring different type of treatments. In order to combat the difficulty of treating schizophrenia, several techniques have been devised; psychoanalytic therapy, behavioural therapy, family therapy and most predominantly, drug therapies. Drug therapy is the primary form of treatment implemented at the onset of schizophrenia.
The drug clozapine is very effective for many patients who do not respond to initial drug treatment programs and treats both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia (Advokat et al., 1999; Robinson et al., 1999).
The Term Paper on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Schizophrenia
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Schizophrenia INTRODUCTION Schizophrenia is a persistent and often unrelenting psychiatric disorder. Twenty-five to fifty percent of patients who are compliant with medication still experience significant symptomatology (Weinberger, 1995). Unfortunately, as many as 50% of patients are not fully compliant with prescribed medications (Hale, 1995). Thus, practitioners ...
Moreover, a reduction in negative symptoms has also been noted to occur as individuals are treated with amisulpride and (Danion et al., 1999).
The use of newer drugs to treat schizophrenia has produced fewer side effects in most patients. However, it has been found that although the use of risperidone to treat patients is very effective in treating the symptoms, there may be negative side effects for women using the drugs (Caracci,1999).
As well, haloperidol has been one of the most widely used drugs for treating schizophrenia and is very effective, but if it is over-prescribed it could result in severe side effects for the patient (Yasui et al., 1999).
Despite the possible side effects for some patients using drug therapy, it is still the treatment regime which produces in the highest success rate (Davison & Neale, 1998).
Psychoanalytical Therapy A revised form of Freud’s psychoanalytical therapy was first devised by Harry Stack Sullivan to treat schizophrenic patients in the early 1920’s. Sullivan believed that schizophrenia was a result of individuals regressing to earlier forms of childhood communication due to the fragile ego’s inability to handling the stress of their interpersonal relationships (Davison & Neale, 1998).
He believed that by building a trusting relationship with the patients, the patients would become willing to examine their interpersonal relationships, thus resulting in improvement of symptoms. Freida Fromm-Reichman, a German psychiatrist who worked with Sullivan, also believed that schizophrenic symptoms resulted as a means of avoiding the rejections suffered in childhood (Davison & Neale, 1998).
She too believed that by building a trusting relationship with a patient, the past experiences could be examined and symptoms alleviated. There was little evidence to suggest that the treatment was successful for patients who suffered from severe symptoms, but it was effective for individuals who suffered from mild cases of schizophrenia or who were in the beginning stages.
The Term Paper on Schizophrenia Symptoms Family Brain
... Bernheim, K. R and Lewin e, R. R. J. Schizophrenia. Symptoms, Causes, Treatments Norton, NY 1979, pgs.126-127, pg. 140 ... the patient to enable him / her to adjust.Group therapy is much cheaper than one on one. Schizophrenia is a problem for family members ... is advanced.There are also many differences among individuals in the way in which symptoms present themselves. Most doctors, well aware of ...
The ineffectiveness of psychoanalytic therapy in severe cases has been attributed to the fact that insight into the patient’s own problems and illness worsens the symptoms due to its intrusive and intensive nature (Davison & Neale, 1998).
For this reason psychoanalytic therapy has not been widely used to treat individuals suffering from severe forms of schizophrenia. Family Therapy Another favorable form of treatment for individuals suffering from schizophrenia involves family therapy. Individuals who have been institutionalized for schizophrenia are often released back into their family homes. However, evidence has found that if these families show high levels of expressed emotions such as; hostility, hypercritical comments and overprotective behaviour, the chances of relapse and re-hospitalization are high (Davison & Neale, 1998).
Therefore, family therapy focuses on reducing the level of expressed emotions in the family through cognitive and behaviour therapy. As well, family members are taught to lower their expectations for the member with schizophrenia to reduce criticism and help the patient remain on their drug therapies.
Studies have shown that the families of patients who received family therapy produced lower rates of re-hospitalization, but only on a short-term basis. Over the long run, it was shown that there was no significant difference in the rates of re-hospitalization between the patients who received family therapy and the one’s who did not (Davison & Neale, 1998).
The delay of re-hospitalization is a benefit for many individuals, but the patients never become fully functioning members of society despite family therapy. behaviour therapy Behaviour therapy is method that has shown good results by helping individuals suffering from schizophrenia learn how to function as members of society. This type of therapy works on the principle that most drug regimes help with the positive symptoms of schizophrenia but not the negative symptoms, therefore, behaviour therapy helps teach the individuals social skills. The limitation to this type of techniques is that it is bound by the cognitive skills of the individuals.
The Term Paper on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Therapies in Cancer Patients
Traditionalmedicine? Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Therapies in Cancer Patients Acquiring the knowledge and understanding of how to get complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatment covered by health insurance companies can be extremely convoluted and unclear—in fact, one would be hard-pressed to make a specific statement regarding CAM treatment because coverage varies so ...
Any cognitive deficits may limit the patient’s improvement (Davison & Neale, 1998).
One type of behavioural therapy shown to elicit marked improvements is known as the token economy therapy. The token economy system works on the principle where individuals are given tokens when desired behaviour is performed and these tokens can later be traded for wanted items or activities (Davison & Neale, 1998).
Studies have shown that schizophrenic patients treated with the token economy have shown marked improvement, improving their re-entrance into society and in some cases reducing their medication dosages (Davison & Neale, 1998).
However, it was noted that success in this program is not a cure, many of the individuals still displayed abnormal behaviour and were not functioning members of society. In all the treatment therapies mentioned, the patients are primarily treated with medications.
The behavioural and family therapies are a means of supplementing drug therapy to help re-integrate schizophrenic individuals into society through the development of social skills. By re-integrating the individuals back into society, the probability that the patients adhere to their drug therapies increases. Nonetheless, it is important to note that drug therapy is the backbone of treatment for schizophrenic patients, hence, it is the most widespread treatment regime used and one of the most important to understand. Drug Therapy The problems with treatment programs for schizophrenic’s is that they suffer from both positive and negative symptoms, each requiring different type of treatments. Excesses of dopamine in the brain seem to be related to the onset of positive symptoms, which include hallucinations, disorganized speech, bizarre behaviour and delusions. On the contrary, negative symptoms, including behavioural deficits such as; apathy, negative thought disorder, inability to experience pleasure and flat affects, seem to be related to the under activity of dopamine neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.
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The Essay on Cocaine Process Treatment Drug
For many centuries people have used different drugs for various reasons. Depending on which decade you are in there are particular drugs of preference and abundant usage. Cocaine is most commonly used among 18-25 year olds rather then other age groups. I chose cocaine because it is what effects people my age most commonly. Cocaine was first used in the late 1800's as a local anesthetic during ...
