Until today, there is no medication formulated to cure Schizophrenia, as it is a long-term mental illness or disorder with a lack of focus, inability to think, and less interaction with people around. However, psychologists and psychiatrists can help manage the symptoms or triggers of this illness, resulting in a good quality of life, like other sober individuals.
In this blog, we’ve briefed on the various aspects of Schizophrenia, whether or not there exists a cure, and what the treatment methods are to control this mental disorder, curated by the experts at a leading mental health care centre.
Causes and symptoms
So far, doctors have categorised the major causes of Schizophrenia into three categories:
- Genetic: Abnormalities in one or more genes, or a family history of the same illness.
- Physical: Changes in the regular brain structure, or changes in the functioning of a few neurotransmitters.
- Mental: Continuous exposure to stressful events and situations in life or mental illness due to drug abuse or addiction.
Identifying the cause of this chronic mental disorder is important for the doctor to come up with the best suitable schizophrenia treatment plan.
The common symptoms of this condition include:
- Hallucinations and delusions
- Disordered or disorganised thinking
- Inability to feel sober or pleasure
- Unwanted aggression and agitation
- Expressing child-like, unusual traits, or emotions
- Frequent mood changes, anxiety, or depression
- Impaired speech, questioning, and answering
Is there a cure for this chronic mental illness?
Now, let’s get into the core of the article—Schizophrenia is it curable? Honestly, there are no medications or an accurate treatment method for Schizophrenia. Albeit, we can control the effect or unnecessary consequences of the mental disorder. Once the symptoms and causes of the condition become obvious, psychiatrists and therapists discuss the existing condition of the individual and develop a comprehensive, long-term treatment plan—combining antipsychotic medications and cognitive behaviour therapy.
When the combination of treatments is continued throughout the life, then the individual can lead a decent, sober way of living without many disturbances or deviations.
Schizophrenia treatment
- Medications
The usual medication prescribed for this condition is the antipsychotics. This can reduce the symptoms of neurotransmission abnormalities and enable the individual to respond normally to emotions and movements. Also, this medication is found to reduce the effects of hallucinations and social withdrawal.
Lately, doctors have been prescribing atypical antipsychotics, including clozapine. This is used in the case of high-risk patients where suicidal thoughts are dominating or frequent.
- Therapies
There are no special schizophrenia therapies as such. The therapists mainly rely on CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) to positively influence the way the patient acts, reacts, or responds to day-to-day activities or incidents. Reality testing is the emphasis here, so that the patient realises the difference between realistic and unrealistic (hallucinated) thoughts.
In some cases, the whole family, along with the affected individual, undergoes therapeutic sessions to learn:
- How to effectively handle or control stress?
- When to immediately reach out to the doctor?
- What possible signs can the patient express when the condition worsens?
- How to tackle the consequences with a positive note and feeling?
Best rehabilitation treatment for Schizophrenia
Though psychiatrists and doctors have learned different ways to treat this condition, it requires adequate experience handling many such patients. Because this condition can be expressed differently in different people. Not all Schizophrenia patients behave the same way.
Thus, a well-established mental health care centre with specialised rehab for schizophrenia is required—experienced psychiatrists, Schizophrenia-specific therapists, dedicated medical doctors, well-equipped in-patient amenities, adequate medical counsellors, and an exclusive, professionally trained nursing or monitoring team.
Treating Schizophrenia at Naveen Hospital, Coimbatore
The expert team at this legacy mental health care centre in Coimbatore are well aware that Schizophrenia can be managed if not cured. Thus, they ensure every Schizophrenia patient undergoes a customised and holistic treatment plan that can bring the patient from an unrealistic state to reality and drastically reduce the effects of the mental disorder through therapies, Schizophrenia medication, vocational training (yoga, exercises), advanced transdermal patches, sober community building, etc.
