Treatment for a Person Who Is Suffering

¶ … Treatment for a Person Who Is Suffering From Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is commonly considered to be one of the most severe of all mental illnesses, with a relatively poor treatment prognosis. Although understanding of the disorder has expanded considerably in recent decades, there is no 'foolproof' treatment or cure for schizophrenia, nor is there a conclusive diagnostic instrument like a blood test for any mental disorder to suggest that the patient is manifesting a particular disease.

Diagnosis

Schizophrenia has a strong heritable component: close family members with the disorder will dramatically increase the subject's own tendency to manifest the abnormality. Identical twins, for example, are more likely to be schizophrenic than non-identical twins (Durand & Barlow 2012: 36). However, diagnosis of the illness can be challenging, given the diffuse types of the disorder and the many different symptoms sufferers can manifest. For example, there are so-called 'negative' signs of schizophrenia such as a lack of affect in emotional situations that would normally provoke emotional responses in other people and 'positive' signs such as the more florid hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia that the public tends to think of as the most obvious signs of this mental illness (Durand & Barlow 2012: 456-459).

Since every sufferer exhibits different symptoms, this can complicate diagnosis, particularly if the patient does not see a psychologist for his or her treatment at first. He or she may be misdiagnosed as being high on drugs (particularly common at first glance in an emergency room). Also, the lack of affect may cause major depression to be diagnosed or bipolarity if the sufferer is in the thick of a delusional episode.

Barriers to treatment: Personal

Once the patient has received a diagnosis, however, barriers to treatment may continue. Seeking out the right blend of counseling and drug treatment may be a challenge. There is no conclusive 'one-size-fits-all' treatment for schizophrenia, although most effective treatments consist of a combination of both drugs and counseling (particularly in life skills such as relating to others, which is a major challenge for persons with schizophrenia). Also, the drugs which are used to treat schizophrenia often have severe side effects which can make treatment compliance particularly challenging for the sufferer on a personal level. Both the patient and the family may resist being labeled as possessing such a severe mental illness, which can further complicate treatment (Durand & Barlow 2012: 493).

Barriers to treatment: Social

It should be noted that not all cultures have treated the manifestation of hallucinations in the same manner: historically, seeing delusions has been interpreted through a religious lens, both in a negative fashion (possession and seeing demons) and also in a positive fashion (being given special insight). However, with a severe mental illness in Western modernity, social barriers may be different and in some instances more challenging: the level of support required to ensure treatment compliance is very high for patients with schizophrenia and is both expensive and labor-intensive. Living a 'normal' life and having the routine of a job and forming personal relationships with other human beings can be complicated by both the symptoms of the disorder itself, such as hallucinations, and the side effects of drugs used in treatment which can themselves be alienating.

Institutional barriers

Appropriate funding and counseling through the mental health system, particularly interventions which acknowledge the built-in reluctance to seek treatment which is often a symptom of so many mental disorders is demanded. Schizophrenia is a chronic problem, which must be managed even under the best of circumstances throughout the duration of the patient's lifetime while quite often mental health approaches are instead geared to treat the illness primarily as something short in duration (Durand & Barlow 2012: 5). Although such a limited duration approach may be appropriate for phobias and depression (such as the treatment method of cognitive-behavioral therapy) this is not the case with an illness such as schizophrenia.