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Schizophrenia Treatment: The Schizophrenia Treatment Process
Schizophrenia is a mental health illness that dramatically affects the life and lifestyle of the individual who has it. An individual becomes a schizophrenic from a several causes, of which the most prominent are genetics and environment, and brain chemistry and structure. Schizophrenic individuals suffer from delusions and hallucinations, as well as unorganized speech. These types of effects cause individuals to be isolated from society and prevents individuals with schizophrenia from having normal lives. Additionally, individuals with schizophrenia require lots of supervision for in case they develop psychotic episodes or try to kill themselves. Approximately, 10 percent of people with schizophrenia kill themselves and usually live about 25 years less than the average person.
The most noticeable signs indicating that an individual may need schizophrenia treatment is by the act of psychotic episodes such as through hallucinations, saying that they hear or perceive something that isn’t real, or through delusions, saying that something is true and believing it when it is not. These two signs can obviously lead to a possibly dangerous situation if the proper care or prevention to the situation isn’t administered. If you notice any of these two signs, along with possibly unorganized speech, there is the possibility that the individual showing these signs has schizophrenia, and this individual should be taken to a licensed physician or psychologist to diagnose whether or not the individual has schizophrenia, and if so, what type. The onset age for a first episode of schizophrenia is usually between the ages of 16 to 30 years of age.
Meeting with a licensed medical professional is the first step in schizophrenia treatment. The licensed professional will put the patient through a series of tests which include cognitive and verbal tests, along with brains scans such as a CAT scan. The medical professional will do this to rule out any other possibilities for the behavior and/or narrow down to the type of schizophrenia the individual may have. Additionally, the doctor will most likely want to know of the family history, environment, and any other factors that could have probably contributed to the individual’s schizophrenia before coming to a diagnosis. Once a psychologist or other licensed professional has diagnosed an individual with schizophrenia, the schizophrenia treatment process will begin. It is strongly recommended to follow the advice of the licensed medical professional to ensure the best results in effective treatment for the individual who is suffering from schizophrenia because not all schizophrenia treatments are the same. The doctor will most likely treat schizophrenia by prescribing a drug for the individual to take that will reduce the amount of hallucinations and delusions and help the individual to function better in his or her environment. It may take a while for the effects of the medicine to take effect. Additionally, the doses of psychotic medicine may change as directed by your doctor. It is important to not stop taking medication suddenly.
Additional treatment, depending on the stage of schizophrenia may require for the individual with schizophrenia to stay in a hospital bed or care facility where it will be easier for the individual to get the support that he or she needs during the treatment process. As a result of treatment, the person with schizophrenia is on the path to recovery and usually improves his or her mental health with the treatments. Approximately 95% of people with schizophrenia are undergoing schizophrenia treatment, which is a good sign to show how doctors and families believe that the treatments are working.
Another possible treatment process for individual with schizophrenia is to go through a clinical research trial to help medical advancement towards finding a cure for schizophrenia. Clinical trials and patient participation are essential for discovering the most effective medicines and schizophrenia treatments. Approximately 1 percent of the population is suffering from Schizophrenia and researchers are hoping to find the cure soon.
For more information on clinical trials, contact Precise Research Centers at (601)-420-5810.