Schizophrenia And Your Ability To Perform Sedentary Work
Sedentary work often involves a greater amount of concentration than physical labor. Often, sedentary jobs require you to sit in one place for extended periods of time, and to interact with other people at work and the general public. Other sedentary jobs require being able to concentrate on using your hands for assembling or repairing things with small parts.
Often, for those with schizophrenia, performing sedentary work is more difficult than performing physical work. Of course, different people with different schizophrenia symptoms may be able to do either kind of work, or neither. If you are unable to work due to your schizophrenia, its generally a good idea to contract a Social Security Disability lawyer to help you with your Social Security Disability claim. When choosing who you would like to represent you, look for a Social Security Disability attorney with experience dealing with clients with mental disorders.
Schizophrenia Management Is Possible
Living a normal life with schizophrenia doesnt necessarily mean never having symptoms againit means being able to manage this chronic illness in order to live independently, or mostly independently, and do all the things other adults do, such as work and have families. The key to managing and living well with this condition is treatment. With good and ongoing treatment it is possible to live an enjoyable and fulfilling life. Most people improve with treatment, although recurrences are possible. There are certain factors that make some people more likely to see the best improvement in function, such as:
- Functioning well before the onset of schizophrenia
- Being older when the symptoms first began
- Not having a family history of schizophrenia
- Having symptoms begin suddenly, rather than beginning slowly
- Having a higher IQ
While these factors seem to contribute to greater success in recovery from schizophrenia, anyone with this condition can improve and live normally with good treatment.
Risk Factors For Schizophrenia
Although the exact cause of schizophrenia is unknown, there are several factors that appear to have a high correlation with the development of schizophrenia. The strongest indicator that an individual is at risk for developing schizophrenia is having a family history of schizophrenia.4 People with first-degree relatives who had a schizophrenia-related personality disorder were more likely to develop schizophrenia themselves than individuals without schizophrenic first-degree relatives. Other risk factors for developing schizophrenia include autoimmune disorders, having an older father, having pregnancy or birth complications, and taking psychoactive drugs during adolescence.3 Schizophrenia cannot be accurately attributed to one specific factor or characteristic rather, it is more likely that developing schizophrenia results from a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental, social, and psychological factors.
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Do You Need More Help
Contact a community organization like the Canadian Mental Health Association to learn more about support and resources in your area.
Founded in 1918, The Canadian Mental Health Association is a national charity that helps maintain and improve mental health for all Canadians. As the nation-wide leader and champion for mental health, CMHA helps people access the community resources they need to build resilience and support recovery from mental illness.
Gene Tierney 1920 1991
American Actress
Age of Diagnosis: Unknown
Individual History: Gene Eliza Tierney was an American film and stage actress. She was acclaimed as a great beauty and became established as a leading lady in a short period of time. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film Laura . She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven . There were several difficult events in her personal life, and she struggled for years with episodes of what was thought to be manic depression or schizophrenia. In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter who was deaf and mentally disabled, the result of a fan breaking out of rubella quarantine and infecting the pregnant Tierney while she volunteered at the Hollywood Canteen. In 1953, she suffered problems with concentration, which affected her film appearances. She consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments, intended to alleviate severe depression, Tierney fled the facility, but was caught and returned. She later became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming it had destroyed significant portions of her memory. Tierney died of emphysema in 1991 in Houston.
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What Risks And Complications Can Schizophrenia Cause
Physical health
Research suggests that people with serious mental illness , such as schizophrenia, have a shorter life expectancy. People with mental illness may die 15 to 20 years earlier than the general population. This may because people who live with SMI are at higher risk of having a range of health issues. Such as being overweight, having heart disease, smoking and diabetes.
Because of these issues, NICE recommends that when you start taking antipsychotic medication, your doctor should do a full range of physical health checks. This should include weight, blood pressure and other blood tests. These checks should be repeated regularly.
Mental health professionals are responsible for doing these checks for the first year of treatment. Responsibility may then pass to your GP. Your doctor or mental health team should offer you a programme which combines healthy eating and physical health checks. You should be supported by a healthcare professional to help stop smoking.
Suicide
The risk of suicide is increased for people with schizophrenia. Research indicates that around 513% of people who live with with schizophrenia die by suicide.
Research has found that the increased risk is not usually because of positive symptoms. The risk of suicide is associated more to affective symptoms, such as low mood.
Key risk factors for suicide include:
- previous suicide attempts,
What Can I Do To Manage Schizophrenia
People deal with their experience in different ways. You might need to try different things before finding something that works.
Support groups
You could join a support group. A support group is where people come together to share information, experiences and give each other support. Hearing about the experiences of others can help you feel understood. This may help you feel less alone and boost your self-confidence.
You might be able to find a local group by searching online. Rethink Mental Illness have support groups in some areas. You can find out what is available in your area, or get help to set up your own support group if you follow this link:
Or you can call our advice service on 0808 801 0525 for more information.
Recovery College
Recovery colleges are part of the NHS. They offer free courses about mental health to help you manage your experiences. They can help you to take control of your life and become an expert in your own wellbeing and recovery. You can usually self-refer to a recovery college. But the college may tell your care team.
Unfortunately, recovery colleges are not available in all areas. To see if there is a recovery college in your area you can use a search engine such as Google. Or you can call our advice service on 0808 801 0525 for more information.
Peer support through the NHS
- side effects,
- recognising and coping with symptoms,
- what to do in a crisis,
- meeting other people who can support you, and recovery.
Self-management techniques
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Forging Paths To Recovery
The researchers conducted up to three interviews each with 10 men and 10 women with schizophrenia from the Los Angeles area. All of them continued to have some psychotic symptoms even as they were employed in professional, technical or managerial occupations.
Findings indicated the interviewees had adopted numerous coping strategies to prevent and deal with symptoms, including avoiding stressful situations, staying away from alcohol and drugs, and taking their prescribed medications. Those interviewed also said they try to interact with people who are supportive and non-judgmental and that they use various cognitive strategies to help them reason through problematic thoughts and whether or not those thoughts are based in reality.
The subjects also mentioned religion and spirituality, and exercise and diet, as ways they prevent or deal with psychiatric instability, Cohen said. Some individuals reported that calm, soothing places help them cope while others said they preferred to seek out more activity.
And some said jobs and educational activities could be distracting, but others said school or career help by providing a sense of belonging.
One big surprise and disappointment was the disparity between the education of these individuals and the salaries they were earning, Cohen said. Most of the patients studied had college or advanced degrees but still made less than $50,000 annually despite working in a large, urban city.
Who Does It Affect
Schizophrenia can affect anyone. It usually starts to affect people in the teen years, though females often start to experience the illness a little later than males. No one knows exactly what causes schizophrenia or why it can affect people so differently. Genes, the way a persons brain develops, and life events may all play a part.
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Finding And Succeeding At Employment With Schizophrenia
by Patient Expert
Upwards of 70 percent of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia in a recent study expressed an interest in working at a job. I’ve been employed for over 25 years now and will focus this SharePost on practical ways to find and succeed at a job when you have this illness.
1.Obtain cognitive remediation and social skills training.
Individuals with schizophrenia who haven’t worked before are thought to be poorjudges of their ability to perform the duties of a job. Getting this training can help you set goals and achieve them so that you can get ready for employment.
2.Consider finding supported employment.
This is where a job coach interacts with you so that you can succeed at work. They don’t step in to do your job when you can’t they meet with you to monitor how you’re doing and provide feedback.
An agency like MHA Riverside in New York City used to provide job coaches. Check with your local NAMI or MHA or other community mental health agency to see if they offer job coaches.
3.Investigate if your state has a vocational rehab agency for individuals with disabilities.
OVR in New York sent me to clerical training in fall 1989 and in August 1990 I obtained my first job as an administrative assistant.
4.Employ a therapist or social worker who does life coaching.
I was fortunate to meet a therapist for five sessions. He gave me vocational assessment. That’s how I decided to go back to school so I could become a public service librarian.
Vincent Van Gogh 1853 1890
Artist
Age of Diagnosis: Unknown
Individual History: Among the most famous schizophrenic people is world renowned artist Vincent Van Gogh. van Gogh was a Post-Impressionist Dutch painter, whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th-century art. His work included portraits, self portraits, landscapes and still life of cypresses, wheat fields and sunflowers. He was reported to have drawn as a child but did not paint until his late twenties. He completed many of his best-known works during the last two years of his life. In a short period of time, he produced more than 2,100 works of art, including 860 oil paintings and more than 1,300 watercolors, drawings, sketches and prints. The artist lived in a time when schizophrenia had not yet been identified as a disorder, but many medical professionals today believe van Gogh suffered from it. His unstable moods and a eccentric personality led 150 doctors to hypothesize a posthumous diagnoses. Van Gogh had recurring psychotic episodes in the last two years of his life, and at age 37, he committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest with a revolver.
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Maintain Your Social Network
Try to maintain your friendships or the network of people that you have in your life. These will later become important supports as your loved one recovers. Educate them and update them on your loved one’s recovery. People are sometimes afraid to ask questions about schizophrenia and this will put them at ease.
Meeting A Disability Listing For Schizophrenia
The Social Security Administration will automatically approve you for disability benefits for schizophrenia if you meet the requirements of Listing 12.03, Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorders, in its Listing of Impairments. disorder, and substance/medication-induced psychotic disorder.)
To be eligible for benefits under this disability listing, you must have medical evidence showing that you have one or more of the following symptoms on a persistent basis, despite taking medication:
- hallucinations or delusions
- illogical thoughts and other disorganized thinking as evidenced by speech, or
- a catatonic state or grossly disorganized behavior.
In addition to these signs and symptoms, Social Security will need proof of how your disorder limits you. You don’t need to prove specific limitations if your disorder has persisted for at least two years and you have either been receiving intensive medical treatment and mental health therapy or have been living in a highly structured setting that diminishes your symptoms. You will need to prove that you have minimal capacity to adapt to changes in your environment or to demands that are not already part of your daily life.
If this doesn’t apply to you, you must show that you have an extreme limitation in at least one of the following areas, or a “marked” limitation in at least two of the following areas:
Note that Social Security defines “marked” as less than extreme, but worse than moderate.
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What About Remission Or Functional Recovery From Schizophrenia
Like some other types of mental illness, schizophrenia symptoms can sometimes wax and wane throughout a persons life. An individual may have an intense schizophrenic episode and go for months or years with little or no issue related to the disease. In most cases, however, even people receiving effective and consistent treatment must contend with at least some consequences of the disease.
But with a combination of medications, psychosocial therapy, and lifestyle adjustments, functional recovery and functional well-being are realistic goals for people with schizophrenia. Though an exact picture of what functional recovery looks like is still somewhat debated among clinicians, a survey of mental health experts reported in suggests that functional recovery involves concepts such as:
- quality of life
- symptom management or remission
- maintaining social relationships
The goal of functional recovery is not just that serious symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions are held in check, but that an individual can live, work, and have positive family relationships and friendships, as well as live independently or with minimal assistance.
What Myths Are There About Schizophrenia
There are some myths or mistaken beliefs about schizophrenia which come from the media. For example,
- Schizophrenia means someone has a split personality
This is not the case. The mistake may come from the fact that the name ‘schizophrenia’ comes from two Greek words meaning ‘split’ and ‘mind’.
- Schizophrenia causes people to be violent
Research shows that only a small number of people with the illness may become violent. The same way as a small minority of the general public may become violent.
People with schizophrenia are far more likely to be harmed by other people than other people are to be harmed by them. But as these incidents can be shocking, the media often report them in a way which emphasises the mental health diagnosis. This can create fear and stigma in the general public.
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How Can I Help A Loved One
Supporting a loved one can be hard. It can be difficult to understand what a loved one is experiencing, and their behaviour may be confusing at times. Many people worry about their loved ones future. The good news is that schizophrenia is treatableand love and support can go a long way. Here are some tips for helping a loved one:
Schizophrenic Medications And Sexual Side Effects
There is no cure for schizophrenia and most patients require lifelong treatment including medications, therapy, and institutionalization. Medications are the most common form of treatment prescribed to individuals with schizophrenia because they can be effective in reducing schizophrenic hallucinations however, medications can often negatively impact oneâs sexual functioning.
Antipsychotics: Abilify, Latuda, and Saphris are all antipsychotic medications that help treat schizophrenia. Antipsychotics function by altering the effect of neurotransmitters in the brain such as dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin.6 Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter targeted by antipsychotics. Increased levels of dopamine may be responsible for the hallucinations and delusions commonly experienced by schizophrenic patients. The medications listed above have several side effects, including sexual dysfunction. Forty-five to 80% of males and 30-80% of females report experiencing sexual dysfunction after taking antipsychotic medications.7 Antipsychotics are known to decrease libido, interfere with arousal and orgasm, contribute to erectile dysfunction in males, and to in females.7
Some patients report that sexual dysfunction decreases over time, a phenomenon also known as spontaneous remission. However, this data is limited and it seems as though improvements occur when the initial complaints are mild and associated with delayed orgasm, rather than desire or arousal disorders.
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Challenging Or Denying Hallucinations And Delusions
Many people think its best to gently counter hallucinations or delusions by saying something like, Thats not real, or I would see it, too.
Yet these symptoms are very real to them, and denying their reality often just ends up driving them away.
They may decide they cant trust or confide in you since you dont believe them. A lack of trust can make it more difficult to support them and encourage them to get help for symptoms.
Offering support doesnt mean pretending to believe in the hallucinations or delusions. You can simply say:
- It must feel so upsetting to hear those voices.
- That sounds so confusing and stressful.