Schizoaffective Disorder And Alcohol
Schizoaffective disorder is destabilizing enough as it is. Someone with this psychotic disorder goes through a challenging combination of depression and other mood symptoms and psychotic symptoms too. Coping with the distress and uncertainty of schizoaffective symptoms is challenging. Sometimes a person will turn to alcohol or other substances as a way to cope. But, while it might seem like a good idea at the time, schizoaffective disorder and alcohol do not play well together.
When schizoaffective disorder and alcohol use disorder occur together, a dual-diagnosis treatment program is necessary to approach these distinct but interrelated problems simultaneously. With the right support, it is possible to develop positive and effective coping strategies that enable a peaceful and fulfilling life with schizoaffective disorder.
How Does A Patient Recover
Patients can recover from acute episodes. They will begin to stabilize when they take medications that control their symptoms. After that, they may still have some trouble with symptoms, but these will be much less severe. Between episodes, maintenance is important to prevent mild and persistent symptoms. During this phase, many patients continue to improve.
What Is The Use Of Alcohol
It is said that to suffer from schizophrenia is to live with a mind that feels like it is racing from sunrise to sunset. It is not uncommon for the environment of a person living with schizophrenia to be filled with unusual sights, sounds and smells, and some individuals worry about the tricks their minds will play on them as they go about their daily lives. Study of alcohol and schizophrenia tells aside from nicotines ability to soothe, alcohol can also offer a similar feeling of peace, quiet and quiet, slowing down electrical activity within the brain.
The Sensation Can Also Be Produced by Other Drugs, Including:
- Addiction to heroin
- Taking Prescription painkillers
- Using Marijuana
Although such substances are considered illegal, people may have difficulty getting them because of their illegal status. The other thing is alcohol. It can be found everywhere and even in some grocery stores. For schizophrenia sufferers, alcohol may be an appealing substance due to its availability.
The study also suggests that there is a genetic predisposition at work, as evidenced by a publication in theBritish Journal of Psychiatry. It has been shown that twin studies indicate people with schizophrenia tend to develop alcoholism at rates higher than those of their genetically unrelated peers.
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The Character With Schizophrenia Had A Troubled Childhood
Another common theme is that the character had a troubled childhood before being diagnosed with schizophrenia. In Spider the main character remembers a traumatic event before developing symptoms of schizophrenia. In Karthik calling Karthik the patient had a troubled childhood where his brother died while trying to killing him, and reminiscing that episode causes the onset of schizophrenia.
Research shows that patients with schizophrenia have diverse backgrounds, some coming from wealthy families and happy childhoods, others having more disturbed childhoods. Portrayals of troubled childhood being the direct factor causing schizophrenia can be misleading for families who may think that a traumatic event the patient experienced as a child is what caused the onset of schizophrenia.
The Character With Schizophrenia Is A Genius
In the Cavemans Valentine the main character is a genius pianist who has delusions of grandeur, paranoid delusions, and symptoms similar to schizophrenia. Another movie featuring a music prodigy with schizophrenia, The Soloist , portrays a genius pianist who ends up getting schizophrenia and becomes homeless before his talent gets noticed. A Beautiful Mind features the story of John Nash, the Nobel Prize for Economics winner in 1994, who struggled all his life with schizophrenia. This film has misled people to confuse schizophrenia with synesthesia, a neurological disorder that makes learning a lot easier. Finally, in Homeless to Harvard, the Liz Murray Story , the main character is the daughter of a schizophrenic mother and a substance addict father who ends up studying and making it to Harvard.
The main misconception is that this might lead some families to believe that anyone with schizophrenia might have hidden talents or genius abilities, often features present in some forms of autism but rarely in schizophrenia.
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Alcohol Effects On The Body
The effects of alcohol in your body are normally felt inside out.
Most of the effects are, however, internal and because we are unable to see our internal organs, its possible to underestimate the impact alcoholism has.
In fact, some of the adverse effects are not felt until much later in life making them completely difficult to reverse.
Onwards.
Here is a look at how alcoholism potentially affects the different organs of your body.
a. Brain
The effects of taking alcohol on your brain can be both short-term and long-term. The temporary effects include loss of coordination and memory loss. Prolonged consumption of alcohol can significantly and irreversibly affect the brain structure.
This alone can lead to the damage of the cerebral cortex and the limbic system leading to a breakdown in the key pathways of brain communication.
In particular, the cerebellum part of the brain may be affected. Worth noting is that this specific part of the brain is involved in the coordination of the bodys motor skills.
And, therefore, the long-term effects of it failing might include loss of balance and difficulties in emotional response.
b. Heart
Alcohol takes a significant toll on your heart. First and foremost, alcohol increases the levels of triglycerides in your blood leading to a greater risk of the veins capacity reducing. This may reduce the amount of oxygen flowing to the heart thereby increasing ones risk of stroke.
c. Liver
d. Pancreas
How Alcohol Affects People With Schizophrenia
People with any mental health disorder can be more likely to develop alcoholism. This is because of the way some alcohol impacts many disorders. For example, alcohol impacts individuals with some disorders more strongly, or it could temporarily mask their symptoms. When an underlying mental health condition is present in addition to alcoholism, it is known as a co-occurring disorder or a dual-diagnosis. In the case of individuals with schizophrenia, like everyone, alcohol dulls the senses.
The desired effects of alcohol use occur because alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. This can be a great relief to someone with schizophrenia, as it dulls their senses and can make them less aware of what they are experiencing.
Not only does this dull many symptoms of schizophrenia, giving the sufferer break from what they normally experience, but studies show that alcohol can have a greater euphoric effect on them than people without the disorder. Naturally, with the increase of a reward, people who suffer from schizophrenia are likely to drink more as a respite from their symptoms and an increased sense of well-being. The increased consumption makes schizophrenics more susceptible to develop an alcohol use disorder .
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Schizophrenia And Alcohol Warning Signs
Many people with schizophrenia go through what Goldsmith calls a âdownward social drift.â They may end up homeless, isolated, or with legal problems, and theyâre more likely to need emergency services. âUnfortunately, our jails and prisons are the largest mental health providers in our country right now.â
People with mental health issues who heavily abuse drugs and alcohol tend to have worse health outcomes and repeated relapses because they may not stick with a treatment plan.
If youâre worried about someone you love, watch for changes in mood and behavior such as:
Why Drinking Is An Issue
If you have schizophrenia, your doctor may treat it with a type of medication called antipsychotic drugs. These medicines change the balance of chemicals in your brain, helping ease symptoms such as paranoia and seeing or hearing things that arenât there .
The drugs work well, but they depress your central nervous system and slow brain activity. This can lead to side effects such as dizziness, sleepiness, or trouble thinking or concentrating, says Frank Chen, MD, a psychiatrist and chief medical director at Houston Behavioral Healthcare Hospital. Alcohol is also a central nervous system depressant, so the combination of the two can make these side effects worse.
Drinking alcohol while youâre on antipsychotics can also cause even more serious reactions, including:
- Seizures
- Higher risk of falls or injury
All these effects may make it harder for you to have good judgment, Chen notes. âMost of us are able to make good decisions even after a couple drinks, but people with schizophrenia are already at risk for poor decision-making and impulse control,â he says. For example, they may decide to drive, even though they are impaired. Then, they may end up arrested for drunken driving or even have an automobile accident. âUnfortunately, many people with schizophrenia are incarcerated due to exactly these sorts of situations,â he says.
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Help For Family & Friends
The family and friends of someone with schizophrenia need care and support too its okay to set boundaries for the care you can give, and to prioritise your own physical and mental health.
There are many other people out there who share your experience, and many services designed to help carers of people with mental health issues. Here are a few places to find support:
SANE factsheets provide brief, introductory information about mental health. For more in-depth information, read SANEs Schizophrenia guide.
This SANE factsheet is currently being reviewed by industry professionals and people with lived experience
Schizophrenia impacts a person’s thoughts, perceptions, emotions, and behaviour. It can cause periods where people lose touch with reality. Other changes such as reduced motivation, flattened emotional expression, and problems processing information can also occur.
With treatment and support people can and do live fulfilling lives.
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Treatment For Physical Health Problems
People with a mental health condition such as schizophrenia alongside co-existing substance abuse might also require treatment for associated physical health problems.
People with a mental illness should have their physical well-being monitored by their family doctor annually, if not more frequently. If people are heavy drinkers or use drugs heavily, they should have physical check-ups more frequently.
Other Medication You Might Need To Take
If you experience psychosis, you may experience other mental health issues, like depression, mania, anxiety, and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
So you may be prescribed anti-anxiety medications, anti-depressants or mood stabilisers along with your antipsychotics. This is relatively common the medications are often used together.
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Psychotherapeutic And Psychosocial Interventions
Chronic psychotic illness is often accompanied by cognitive deficits and diminished executive functioning, which may be worsened by the effects of alcohol in those who have co-occurring AUD. Therefore, integrated and tailored care for both the psychotic disorder and AUD can improve access to care, deliver consistent messages about treatment and recovery, provide interventions that support attempts to reduce substance use, and manage behavioral health conditions.
Group therapy using cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational enhancement therapy, or contingency management has a role in treating AUD and co-occurring schizophrenia., Considerations for this particular population include using active and ongoing motivation enhancement approaches and modifying cognitive behavioral therapy to account for cognitive, interpersonal, and motivational deficits that commonly occur among people with schizophrenia.
Help For People With Schizophrenia And Alcohol Use Disorder
Whenever it comes to any case of treating alcohol use disorder in someone with a co-occurring disorder, the already taxing process of rehabilitation becomes that much harder. In the case of a schizophrenic, alcohol has become an unhealthy coping mechanism for handling their disorder. When they work to give up alcohol, the symptoms of schizophrenia are likely to become worse. This makes it risky to try and give up alcohol on ones own.
Alcoholics going through severe withdrawal, with no co-occurring disorders, have been known to hallucinate and become violent. Adding the symptoms of schizophrenia to this scenario, an individual could be more likely to be a danger to themselves and others. However, this can be minimized with professional medical assistance. Having specialists help means detoxing and recovering from alcohol abuse in a safe space, where symptoms of withdrawal can be monitored and treated accordingly.
If you or someone you love suffers from alcoholism and a co-occurring disorder, like schizophrenia, contact a treatment provider today. They can help to answer questions about rehab and explore available treatment options.
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Early Intervention Programs For Young People
Schizophrenia most often develops for the first time between the late teens and early twenties. Identifying young people in the early stages of a psychotic illness and providing them with specialised support and treatment can make a huge difference to their future health.
Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are also available across Australia talk to your GP about finding a service near you. You can also contact your local headspace or their online support service, eheadspace to enquire about early intervention for psychosis.
Your public hospital
The treatment available through a public community mental health team ranges from acute inpatient care, where you are admitted and stay in hospital, to outpatient treatment in the community. The type of service provided can differ a lot from state to state and hospital to hospital.
Your state or territory Department of Health can help you identify your local community mental health services, or you can use the National Health Services Directory.
Treatment in a private hospital
With private health insurance, its also possible to get treatment in a private hospital. To ensure your money is well spent, research the different types of cover available and the treatment programs offered by hospitals in your area.
Private therapists
Other services
How Does Alcohol Affect Psychosis And Other Symptoms
Improvement for psychosis and mood symptoms comes from clarifying a persons perspective and coping strategies through psychotherapy, medication, life skills training, and holistic practices. Alcohol brings the opposite effect by muddling and dulling a persons consciousness and interacting negatively with their treatments for schizoaffective disorder.
Alcohol is a depressant with particularly harsh depressive side effects once the intoxication fades. Alcohol can even provoke anxiety and manic symptoms. It might work to numb your thoughts and feelings for the time being, but it will not improve your disordered mood. If anything, it will weigh you and your depression down even more in the long run. And, understandably, once the alcohol wears off and your depression worsens, you may be strongly tempted to drink againespecially without an alternative way to cope at hand.
In addition to serious mood symptoms, someone with schizoaffective disorder also struggles with psychosis akin to schizophrenia. When alcohol abuse is involved, it can induce and/or worsen psychotic episodes. When delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia increase, the risk of harm to others or to oneselfincluding suicideincreases as well. Unless intervention happens early, the emotional and psychological damage could reach a point of no return even with treatment.
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Is Schizophrenia More Common In Males Or Females
Several studies indicate that the incidence of schizophrenia is higher in men. Most of the studies found the age of onset to be earlier in men than in women. Findings on symptoms are less conclusive, with some authors suggesting that men suffer more negative symptoms while women have more affective symptoms.
Looking After Your Physical Health
Schizophrenia takes a toll on your physical health as well as your mental health. It can sap your energy, confidence and motivation you might feel less capable of keeping up your physical health or lose the desire to try.
Another major influence on your physical health is the side-effects of antipsychotic medication. Newer antipsychotic medications have fewer side-effects, but weight gain is still a common one.
People being treated for schizophrenia are much more likely than the general population to be overweight, have high blood pressure and develop diabetes.
Theyre also more likely to smoke, drink too much and use recreational drugs, which can have a negative effect on your mental and physical health.
If youre struggling with these problems, you may hear your doctor use the term metabolic syndrome. It means you have some combination of:
- weight gain around the abdomen
- high blood pressure
- low levels of the good cholesterol
- high blood glucose levels.
Metabolic syndrome is common in people with a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet, but its especially common in people with schizophrenia.
There is support to help you get healthy and stay healthy.
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Alcohol Use In Schizophrenia: Prevalence Patterns Correlates And Clinical Outcomes In Goa India
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
- Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa, India
- Abhijit Nadkarni
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
- Jaiprada Kanekar
- Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa, India
- Wenona Fernandes
- Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa, India
- Hirabai A. Borker
- Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa, India
- Yvonne Pereira
- Institute of Psychiatry and Human Behaviour, Goa, India
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