Essay Example on Schizophrenia Assessment: Delusion, Hallucination & More

Introduction

Schizophrenia is one of the psychosis disorders which is assessed in diverse ways that involves the determination of the symptoms and confirm they are not substance abuse or medical-related. The primary assessment of the disorder can get done through physical means (Velligan et al., 2018). It involved the analysis of the problem, which might cause the symptoms the patient possesses. Some of the physical symptoms can be delusion, hallucination, extreme disorganization, aggression, self-harm, or agitation. It is further accompanied by test and screening of the patient where it determines if there are similar problems with the conditions. It also involves alcohol testing and drugs screening of the patient to see the consumed content and rule out the actual problem (Molentet al, 2019). Furthermore, the patient should get screened through magnetic resonance imaging and the computerized tomography.

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The other assessment is the psychiatric evaluation that involves the doctor's skills and technique of the disorder. The doctor, in this case, has the obligation of viewing the mental status of the patient through observation. The doctor needs to look into the appearance and demeanor and further ask about the thoughts, moods, hallucination, delusion, violence potential and substance used (Velligan et al., 2018). The other critical and final assessment in this situation is the diagnostic criteria of for schizophrenia. The doctor can apply the use of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) (Molentet al, 2019).

Factors Influencing Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Processes

The key factor, in this case, is the absorption process where the drug passes through the barriers such as cell membranes before entering the bloodstreams (Tibbitts et al., 2016). Through the absorption, the drug moves to the gastrointestinal tract, where there are other factors that influence pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic processes (Tibbitts et al., 2016). The gastric pH, cardiovascular or digestive diseases, gastric motility, and rate of gastric emptying are some of the sub factors in this case.

The other factor is the distribution process of the drug, which is also navigated by several aspects. Rate of blood flow to the tissue, the tissue membrane permeability, the tissue mass itself, and the vascular are the primary influence in this case (Tibbitts et al., 2016). Metabolism stage also comprises of influencing factor where it mainly focuses on the rate of the drug metabolism. The final factor is on the elimination stage, where it involves excretion of the inactive substance (Tibbitts et al., 2016). The navigated factors depend on the sweat, saliva and the exhalation of the patient.

Efficacy of Treatment Plans

This is the medication process of the disorder where the antipsychotic is the commonly used drugs. The past generation of the antipsychotic drug poses side effects that are not pleasing to the patient (Crespo-Facorro et al., 2017). In this case, the best medication preferred is the second generation which has a low risk to the side effect. It is important to note that the patient has to take the long-acting injectable antipsychotics such as aripiprazole, fluphenazine decanoate, haloperidol decanoate, and paliperidone (Crespo-Facorro et al., 2017). This type of treatment is given to the patient after every two to four weeks in regards to the medication. The method of treatment is significant if the patient prefers injection other than pills and aids in adherence too.

Ethical and Legal Implications Related to Prescribing Antipsychotic Therapy

It is essential for healthcare providers to review the patient's history before diagnosis and treatment processes (Ganella et al., 2018). To develop an appropriate therapeutic strategy, it is significant to learn the hopes, concerns, and motivation, which might contain psychopharmacological agents to show actual target symptoms (Ganella et al., 2018). The main aim is to prescribe psychotic medication only when there is a clear indication of strong evidence.

References

Crespo-Facorro, B., Bernardo, M., Argimon, J. M., Arrojo, M., Bravo-Ortiz, M. F., Cabrera-Cifuentes, A., ... & Olivares, J. M. (2017). Effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy in the multidimensional treatment of schizophrenia: rethinking project. Revista de Psiquiatria y Salud Mental (English Edition), 10(1), 4-20.

Ganella, E. P., Seguin, C., Bartholomeusz, C. F., Whittle, S., Bousman, C., Wannan, C. M., ... &Zalesky, A. (2018). Risk and resilience brain networks in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 193, 284-292.

Molent, C., Olivo, D., Wolf, R. C., Balestrieri, M., &Sambataro, F. (2019). Functional neuroimaging in treatment-resistant schizophrenia: A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

Tibbitts, J., Canter, D., Graff, R., Smith, A., &Khawli, L. A. (2016, February). Key factors influencing ADME properties of therapeutic proteins: A need for ADME characterization in drug discovery and development. In MAbs (Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 229-245). Taylor & Francis.

Velligan, D., Carpenter, W., Waters, H. C., Gerlanc, N. M., Legacy, S. N., &Ruetsch, C. (2018). Relapse Risk Assessment for Schizophrenia Patients (RASP): A New Self-Report Screening Tool. Clinical schizophrenia & related psychoses, 11(4), 224-235.