Effectiveness of Schizophrenia Treatment
Effectiveness of Schizophrenia Treatment
The term Schizophrenia comes from the Greek; Schiz meaning split and Phren meaning mind. It was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bieuler who, in 1911, used it to describe patients who he found to have a mind split from reality. Symptoms of Schizophrenia are generally divided into positive and negative. The former occur in all cases of Schizophrenia and can be thought of as ‘added’ to the individuals behavior: delusions, hallucinations and thought disorders. The latter occur in only some cases and can be thought of as characteristics ‘taken away’ from the individual. These include social withdrawal, flatness of arrest and cognitive decline. According to the DSM 4 criteria, in order to be diagnosed as schizophrenic, two or more or the following symptoms must be displayed for more than six months: Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, negative symptoms. Schizophrenia is the most common of the major mental illnesses and affects around 1% of the population worldwide. In this essay I shall assess the effectiveness of the most commonly used medical treatments. These are the use of narcoleptic drugs and I shall place a particular emphasis on the more recently developed drugs which have aimed to reduce its side effects. I shall then outline and evaluate the use of talking therapies in the treatment of Schizophrenia, focusing on Individual therapy, family therapy and cognitive behavioral methods. Throughout the essay I shall take a relapse to mean the following: ‘Readmission to in-patient care as a result of a fresh episode of schizophrenia or Worsening of psychotic symptoms’ (Scottish Schizophrenia research group, 1992).
The first drug used to treat Schizophrenia (in 1952) was Chlorpromazine, a tranquillizer that reduces psychotic properties. Soon after this several other similar drugs were developed. While they were relatively successful in treating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia and preventing relapse, they had several serious limitations. They require continued use to reduce likelihood of relapse and approximately 20% of patients show no improvement when using them (Kane et al, 1988). They also have major side effects including Tardive Dyskinesia, Askathisia (which can be fatal), tightening of muscles in a manner similar to Parkinsons, weight gain, blurred vision and decreased motivation. In response to these problems, several drugs have been more recently developed. In the !970’s Clozapine...