Why Knowing About Schizophrenia Is Important

By Mike Selvon

The scary thing about schizophrenia is that sufferers may be so confused by the symptoms that they are unable to tell what is real and what is fantasy. For instance, when serial killer David Berkowitz saw black dogs barking out orders to kill, he believed they were actually there.

Many schizophrenics keep their voices and thoughts to themselves, for fear of being labeled “crazy.” Another schizophrenic, Janice Jordan, mentioned being unable to tell her counselors about a delusional figure known as “The Controller” who barked orders at her during psychotic episodes.

The more patients learn about the illness and its many effects, the better equipped they are to handle the symptoms. Unfortunately, taking life-long medication is also a realistic assumption on the road to recovery.

Schizophrenia research reports some interesting findings. For instance, the mental illness is largely caused by a neuro-chemical imbalance of Dopamine, Seratonin and Norepenephrine.

In a normal brain, the frontal lobe increases its blood flow and the “listening” part of the brain diminishes. PET scans reveal that in a schizophrenic brain, the frontal lobe is active but the “listening” part remains just as active.

The sensory overload usually causes a hallucination. People who are born with it generally have irregular brain cell patterns. Drugs and stress do not cause schizophrenia, but they can certainly exacerbate the symptoms. In some cases, family members who understand very little can agitate the symptoms by using an accusing tone of voice or reacting angrily to the sufferer.

Family members who know about schizophrenia can learn to recognize symptoms of an acute attack: a change in personality, social withdrawal, sleeplessness, agitation, using words that do not make sense and seeing things that aren’t there. It is important to create an environment that facilitates recovery. Keeping peace and serenity at home, helping the schizophrenic set realistic goals, sharing tasks, gradually increasing independence and encouraging new hobbies can all provide schizophrenia support.

There are many misperceptions about schizophrenia. One is that schizophrenia is the same as multiple personality disorder (MPD), which is simply not true. MPD is often characterized by two or more separate and distinct “personalities” which sometimes go by different names, display different mannerisms and have entire lists of unique likes and dislikes.

By contrast, schizophrenics exhibit different behavior, as well as suffer delusions and hallucinations. However, they maintain a basic sense of self, afflicted by mood swings and fragmented thinking. Another misperception is that sufferers are violent by nature.

Because of cases like David Berkowitz or Herb Mullin, the general public associate schizophrenia with murderers - but the only real danger for 99% of schizophrenics is self-harm. By educating the public, diagnosis and recovery can be more effective.

A free audio gift awaits you at our portal site, where you can enrich your knowledge further about schizophrenia. Your comment is much appreciated at our mental illness blog.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon

               

Alternative Treatment For Schizophrenia and Manic Depression

By Robin Brain

Mental health problems are severe when the person becomes out of touch with reality. They may develop false beliefs about who they are or what is happening, feel persecuted by external forces, or believe they have been given special powers. They may hear voices, discussing their thoughts or behavior, or telling them what to do, or they may see things that are not there (hallucinations).

When someone is out of touch with reality in this way, they are called psychotic. Some people have only one episode of psychotic illness in their life, others have several with remission in between, and others have them most of the time. Alternative therapies can be useful for all these people but may not be appropriate in a crisis. Conventional drug medication can usually prevent psychotic episodes, but people who are very distressed or dangerous to themselves or others may need the shelter and protection of a hospital or specialized care unit.

Schizophrenia

Each sufferer’s experience of schizophrenia is unique. Thoughts and feelings are dramatically disturbed and the world is experienced very differently. The person’s behavior may appear bizarre to others. Schizophrenia does not mean “split personality”as is widely believed, but is a word used to describe a wide range of symptoms and conditions.

It is not known what causes schizophrenia: one theory is that a person’s genetic makeup makes him or her vulnerable, and that it is triggered off by stressful events. People diagnosed as schizophrenic are rarely violent, but they are often very frightened and isolated because of their distressing symptoms.

Symptoms of schizophrenia include jumbled, disordered thinking, paranoia, false beliefs, hearing voices, apathy, lack of concentration, and depression.

Treatment

Conventional drug treatment can help control some of the symptoms of schizophrenia (such as hallucinations) but may also create many new symptoms. Alternative therapies can be used alongside conventional treatment for these problems.

Manic Depression

Manic depression involves mood swings: periods of deep depression and over-excited or manic behavior. There may be periods of varying stability in between these extreme highs and lows.

During mania, sufferers are euphoric, feel self­important, excited, and extremely talkative. They may go on spending sprees, be unable to sleep, be irritable, or angry. They have no awareness of changed behavior. During the depressive periods (usually longer) they feel despair, guilt, and worth­lessness.

Music, which can access mood states without recourse to language, may be a helpful therapeutic tool in the treatment of psychotic illness.

Treatment

It is important to avoid stressful situations, and finding the right therapy and therapist is vital.

Relaxation Techniques

Meditation, visualization and relaxation exercises can all help.

Consult a qualified practitioner/therapist for:

Talking Treatments - Taking part in supportive psychotherapy and counseling can help reduce the risk of a relapse by helping sufferers to understand the condition and cope better with problems and stresses. Group or family therapy can help with the communication process. It is thought, however, that psychotherapy, which probes into the past, can be too stressful for people with manic depression or schizophrenia, but some sufferers do find it helpful. Some sufferers may prefer cocounseling.

Read out for Strength ball training. Check out arthritis and diagnostic tests

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robin_Brain

               

New Page added to our Battling-Schizophrenia Blog

Myths …

We added a new page, called “MYTHS”, which can be accessed by clicking that button up there in the top menu just under our top masthead title.

We set-up this page to keep track of any popular “Myths” and/or “Facts” that might be of interest to those Battling Schizophrenia, or are just looking for information about schizophrenia. We hope to keep it up to date by adding sites and “myths” found during our blog postings .. and posting myths from other sites that we visit on our way!

http://www.battling-schizophrenia.com/myths/

There’s no reason to spread the myths .. Learn the Facts!