Research Paper on Biological Methods Used to Treat Schizophrenia

Introduction

Psychotic disorders are characterized by severe confusion and an extreme loss of touch with reality by the patient. When an individual is experiencing a psychotic break, they often experience hallucinations, disorganized speech, delusions, and incoherency. The hallucinations can be olfactory, auditory, haptic, or visual and appear real to the individual, a perception that is not shared by others. Hallucinations are not to be confused with illusions; while the latter means misperception which all people experience as a result of the shortcoming of our senses, the former denotes perception in the absence of a stimulus which is very serious as it makes it hard to distinguish what is real and what is not. The dominant type of psychotic disorder is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia involves complete loss of touch with reality to the point where the patient cannot function socially. The patient also has delusions which are false beliefs not based in fact. The patient may also exhibit motor behavior that is not goal-oriented or even when speaking, puts together meaningless words that do not express any idea nor hold any meaning whatsoever.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Various methods are employed in the clinical setting to treat the disorder. Preventive measures towards the disorder are impractical as the research for markers to indicate the early onset of the mental illness is inconclusive. The primary treatment for the disease is usually prescription of antipsychotic medications. These are generally meant to relieve the symptoms such as hallucinations by targeting the patient's brain chemistry so that the patient can be able to lead a normal life (Meyer, Barrington-Martin & Parker 2003). The reasoning here is that if the condition is brought about by feelings that develop around hallucinations and the delusions, what if we can alter the brain chemistry so that the hallucinations are minimized and, in this effect, improve the condition of the patient.

The use of antipsychotics alleviates the positive symptoms and fail to improve the negative ones meaningfully. Use of antipsychotics is essential as it helps as it reduces the potential risk of relapse if its usage by the patient is regular. Antipsychotics can also precipitate dopamine hypersensitivity, which intensifies the risk of symptoms if the drugs are terminated. The choice of which kind of antipsychotic to use is usually subject to benefits, costs, and the risks involved. It is typically a challenge to decide whether the typical or atypical antipsychotics are better or even suitable for the particular use case. Psychiatrists usually continuously prescribe the antipsychotics, only stopping and settling for the one that the patient responds to well and invokes the desired outcome.

Both typical and atypical antipsychotics operate under a similar principle, in that they dopamine antagonists (Scott & Dixon 1995). The former, however, with no doubt effective, has been observed to trigger extrapyramidal side effects, unlike the latter, which is a class that was developed much later. While the typical antipsychotics are termed as the first-generation antipsychotics, the atypical antipsychotics are also known as second-generation antipsychotics. Extrapyramidal side effects involve symptoms akin to those observed in a Parkinson's patient; these symptoms include tremors, loss of control, and coordination of muscles, spasms, and muscle rigidity. The atypical medications also have various side effects such as metabolic and weight gain issues, sexual side effects, among others.

In place of medication, psychological alternatives are also available. Family Therapy, for instance, addresses the entire family of the patient and in effect, impedes the frequency of relapse and hospitalizations. It is known that genetic factors notwithstanding, environmental factors are a significant contributor to the onset of a schizophrenic break. Thus, if the event that brought about the break can be identified, then the situation can be alleviated. The presence of family in therapy can help shed light into the events that might have led to the break. Interventions such as assertive community treatment target individuals that have the most severe kinds of mental disorder for which schizophrenia is inclusive. These initiatives have handled various cases, and it can thus be inferred that these people have a lot of experience dealing with these kinds of issues and are therefore better equipped to handle them. It can be said that most of the research in this area is inconclusive in terms of effectiveness when used in isolation in schizophrenia. Psychological methods are used in conjunction with the application of antipsychotics.

Treatment methods for schizophrenia, whether psychological or involve medication, can be done on an outpatient basis. Most schizophrenia patients carry on with their lives normally when they respond well to the treatment (Rise 1999). Some of them even wholly recover from the illness. However, in the extreme case where the patient is a danger to either himself or others, then one can be subject to involuntary hospitalization. Also, patients can decide to commit themselves under their discretion voluntarily. The psychiatrist may also choose to keep a patient for observation under their discretion.

In the long run, schizophrenic patients have a life expectancy decreased by 10-25 years (Pilling et al., 2002). This is majorly due to its association with harmful lifestyles such as poor diet, smoking, obesity, and inflated suicide rates playing a much less role. The medications to treat the illness also increase the risk. Schizophrenia has also been ranked the 3rd most disabling condition falling behind quadriplegia and dementia. It even precedes blindness and paraplegia.

Conclusion

Despite the grim statistics, people inflicted should strive at becoming better, and they will become better, especially if they took some time to focus on constructive behaviors instead of destructive ones. However, it can be said that among their convictions or rather one of their predispositions is that they lack motivation and can thus be said that if they lack motivation, then they do not see the point of living and therefore will always tend to destructive lifestyles. Maybe this is their ultimate fate.

Reference

Scott, J. E., & Dixon, L. B. (1995). Psychological interventions for schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 21(4), 621-630.

Rise, M. T. (1999). U.S. Patent No. 5,975,085. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Pilling, S., Bebbington, P., Kuipers, E., Garety, P., Geddes, J., Orbach, G., & Morgan, C. (2002). Psychological treatments in schizophrenia: I. Meta-analysis of family intervention and cognitive behavior therapy. Psychological medicine, 32(5), 763-782.

Meyer, J., Barrington-Martin, R., & Parker, A. (2003). U.S. Patent Application No. 10/125,835.