Childhood Schizophrenia Interventions
Moriah Rastegar
Adelphi University
Author Note
This paper was prepared for the Science of Social Issues, Section 245, taught by Professor Ream. Childhood Schizophrenia Interventions
Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that places considerable burden on the individuals who have it, their families, and society (Eack 2012). Someone who has schizophrenia may have the following symptoms, but not all: faulty perceptions, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation (Oxford Dictionary). The two most commonly used interventions are drug and family intervention. Often times patients with a
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Most families opt not to involve themselves because of the negative stigma of having a family member with schizophrenia. In addition to this there are many factors that affects attending family intervention due to work hours, lack of time, and transportation considerations and other outside factors (Bleecher, 2009 p 264). Although attending intervention can be very lengthy and time consuming family psychoeducation reduces a great percentage of hospitalizations. Overall, families who involve themselves have an overall better outcome for both the family and the ill member because they are helping the child’s social and emotional health (Bleecher, 2009). The effectiveness of family involvement of individuals with schizophrenia in both individual and family outcomes has been established is as an evidence based practice in the mental health field. There is a need for greater understanding of the barriers to involving families in order to move toward the eventual goal of increased practitioner and family collaboration. Although, there is no sufficient data that can prove this aside from a number of case studies further research must be done. The introduction of antipsychotic medications has helped people with schizophrenia to control the hallucinations, delusions, and other positive symptoms of psychosis, which has made it possible for many individuals to live in the
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder often characterized by abnormal social behaviour and failure to recognize what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, auditory hallucinations, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and inactivity. A person with schizophrenia often hears voices, experiences delusions and hallucinations and may believe thoughts, feelings and actions are controlled or shared by someone else.
Schizophrenia is characterized as a psychotic disease that dramatically affects one 's nervous system to a point of where every day basic functions can be inhibited. It is defined as the loss of contact with the external environment the person is in due to delusional thoughts and hallucinations. Perception and behavior of someone plagued with this disease is notably altered and their actions can become a concern of the people around them. Like many other diseases that affect the nervous system it is not curable at the current time but it can be treated to lessen the signs and symptoms of the disease.
Some of the treatments for psychosis include the use of antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotics are the first-line treatment for psychosis. These agents may be given orally or via injection when a person is admitted to hospital. Antipsychotics are also called neuroleptics. They act by blocking the effects of dopamine in the brain and can decrease anxiety and aggression within a few hours of taking the medication.
It is imperative to seek treatment for children or adolescents who present with the onset of serious mental illness. Early-onset of illness is a high prediction of poor outcomes for the patient. Severe mental illness diagnoses include schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. The schizophrenia spectrum includes schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder and xxxx. The diagnoses fall into xxx categories; xxx, xxxx and xxx. Early onset of schizophrenia (EOS) before the age of 13, is very rare at 0.04 % of population in the United States. EOS is before the age of 18, 0.5% of U.S. population. Children and adolescents make up xxx of the psychiatric patient in the United States. The DSM-5
Schizophrenia is commonly viewed as a hopeless disease where people who have it never recover. While there is no cure for schizophrenia, there are effective treatments that have been proven successful. Medications, recovery-oriented psychosocial treatments and rehabilitation practices are increasingly helping people with
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that is long-term and affects mostly adults. However, schizophrenia makes the body capable of displaying symptoms early on, possibly around adolescent years. The disorder makes it difficult to distinguish reality often causing a tainted perception of reality. Schizophrenia is defined by its symptoms of irritable feelings, hallucinations, isolation, lack of attention, and rapid thought process. While schizophrenia has no cure, it is treatable and has the ability to be tolerable. The long-term affect it has is the damaging of tissue in the brain, making it a lifetime struggle. Schizophrenia only induces itself on about 1 percent of adults in the world, however; it is still a burdensome disorder. Upon receiving
The Journal article reviewed was that by, White. M (1987), titled “Family Therapy and Schizophrenia: Addressing the In-the-corner Lifestyle.” In this article the author pointed out that when dealing with individuals suffering from schizophrenia it is important to not let them feel that they have a mental problem which would be the truth; but instead to look at the situation from a postmodern approach. The author made key points as it pertain to dealing with an individual suffering from schizophrenia. Many times the patient is made to believe they are suffering from a mental illness, White believed that you had to deal with the presenting client as you would the next client. Instead of telling the client they had a mental illness that was limiting
Schizophrenia, a thought process that has affected many lives, is characterized by disruptions to the thinking processes, emotions, as well as one's sensory perception. Schizophrenia is a multi-faceted affliction in that individuals suffer audio and visual hallucinations and often deal with financial burdens as well. Many individuals fail to realize that they suffer from this mental disease until symptoms and effects begin to manifest themselves. Treatment for this illness consists of a combination of drug therapy with changes to diet, lasting an entire lifetime. Living with schizophrenia is difficult for
There are perhaps two main prongs to the development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an intervention for schizophrenia, the first being based upon the sizable research that centre on family interventions, which have been successful in reducing patient relapse in schizophrenic families (Pilling et al., 2002). Family interventions are important to consider as they became established treatments during a phase where drug treatments were the main focus of attention in this field and so opened the area of non biological treatment for schizophrenia. And as I will touch upon later drug therapies are frequently used to reduce psychotic symptoms and relapse but these treatments rarely provide the
Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorders that affect the way people think, act, their emotions, their daily activities, and their personal tranquility. There is no cure for schizophrenia, but it can be managed with proper treatment. People with schizophrenia may hear voices or they might feel that someone wants to hurt them, they might also have hallucinations. Schizophrenia affects the brain, which alters cognition and contributes to other major problems for instance, the person might have paranoia, delusions, and poor emotional responsiveness. Brain volume, gray matter and withe matter volume in the brain of a person with this disease is reduced compared to healthy people. Scientist believes that schizophrenia runs in families with schizophrenia
Patients with Schizophrenia can have symptoms that vary from hallucinations, to bad hygiene. They can experience delusions and disorganized thoughts. They are normally depressed and can cause self-harm. The treatments for Schizophrenia includes medications, Electroconvulsive Therapy and therapy. Therapy for these patients can be individual or group. The therapy sessions can help teach these patients how to be social and it can show them how to deal with the voices or hallucinations. Medications for schizophrenia are called antipsychotics. The medications help curb the symptoms of schizophrenia. The down fall to the medications is most people stop taking them. It is not uncommon for the “voices” to talk the patient out of taking them. Electroconvulsive
Schizophrenia which affects approximately 1 percent of the population, usually begins before age 25 and persists throughout life. The illness is a life long debilitating condition for about 40% of patients and is enormously costly in both social and economic terms. Despite the presence of delusions, hallucinations and cognitive impairment which characterize the illness, overall life expectancy is not altered (although there is a significantly increased risk-of suicide in the early years).
Schizophrenia is an extremely complex mental disorder that has yet to be fully understood. This particular disorder has affected much of the population today, causing many different emotional, physical, and psychological problems in every affected individual. These symptoms include: “distorted thoughts, hallucinations, and feelings of fright and paranoia. Psychiatrists evaluate symptoms, tests, and medical history, and prescribe medications and psychotherapy for treatment” (Kirkpatrick). Schizophrenia affects approximately 2.4 million adults in the United States today (We Live With...). Schizophrenia should be thought of as a neurological disorder with emotional and cognitive symptoms, rather than pure insanity.
Schizophrenia affects the ability of a person to perceive reality. It can disrupt a person’s thinking, behavior, and emotions. If someone in a family has had schizophrenia, the likely hood of it being passed down is high, and it usually develops around the late teens, but has been known to affect young children and older adults. Having this disorder can be devastating when the symptoms interfere with everyday life, such as relationships, work, and even self-care. There are several types of symptoms, positive symptoms and negative symptoms. Positive symptoms are when symptoms that shouldn’t be present suddenly arise, like for example hallucinations, delusions, altered speech,
Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects more than one percent of the population. When schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation. However, when these symptoms are treated properly, a large portion of those diagnosed will greatly improve over time.