Monday, March 25, 2024

Is It Possible To Fully Recover From Schizophrenia

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I Have Basically Recovered From Schizophrenia

Recovery from schizophrenia is possible

Just so you know, it can be done. This is not necessarily a lifelong disorder. Sure we have to work harder than normal people, but with meditation, prayer, focus, medication, self help, and an open mind you can also recover

Also motivation and hard work

Im still in meds but Im symptom free

Got on meds at 23Started. Getting better at 25Am better now at 27

Recovery means something different for every person

I think being recovered has multiple definitions and criteria. Excuse me for being cynical but I have many doubts when people say they have fully recovered.To be honest, I think it would be great for you to be recovered and I would congratulate you. But some people might define being recovered as being able to function without meds, and live in society on an even level with non-mentally ill people. In your case as you describe here, it just sounds like you are a schizophrenic who found the right medication.

I think it is a lifetime process. I dont see an end point which you can reach and claim you are fully recovered. I personally think that after you have schizophrenia for a year or two etc. that the damage is done by the disease and psychosis and it has changed the way you talk, cope, think, and function which is irreversible. Its still possible to function in society and live like so-called normal people and do much of what they do, but schizophrenia leaves its mark.

I believe in a good, ongoing recovery,I just dont believe in a full recovery.

Im 49

Spotting The Signs Of An Acute Schizophrenic Episode

Learning to recognise the signs that you’re becoming unwell can help you manage your illness. Signs can include losing your appetite, feeling anxious or stressed, or having disturbed sleep.

You may also notice some milder symptoms developing, such as:

  • feeling suspicious or fearful
  • hearing quiet voices now and again
  • finding it difficult to concentrate

You may also want to ask someone you trust to tell you if they notice your behaviour changing.

Recognising the initial signs of an acute schizophrenic episode can be useful, as it may be prevented through the use of antipsychotic medicines and extra support.

If you have another acute episode of schizophrenia, your written care plan should be followed, particularly any advance statement or crisis plan.

Your care plan will include the likely signs of a developing relapse and the steps to take, including emergency contact numbers.

Read about treating schizophrenia for information about advance statements.

Course And Recovery In Schizophreniform Disorders

The schizophreniform patients showed better global outcome than the schizophrenia patients at each follow-up, with 1 comparison being significant . Similarly, a larger percentage of patients with schizophreniform disorders than patients with schizophrenia were in recovery at each of the 5 follow-ups, although these differences are not significant. The schizophreniform patients showed somewhat better courses over time than the patients with schizophrenia, but many experienced difficulties. Seventy-five percent of the schizophreniform patients experienced subsequent psychotic activity at some point, although it was usually at 1 or 2 follow-ups rather than continuously. Eleven of the 12 schizophreniform patients had complete data on outcome at either 4 or 5 of the 5 follow-ups over 15 years. Only 1 of these 11 schizophreniform patients showed psychotic activity at all follow-ups. On the positive side, unlike the schizophrenia patients, at some point over the 15-year period, 7 of the 12 schizophreniform patients were working full-time during a follow-up year, most of these at more than 1 follow-up. While none of the 11 schizophreniform patients was in recovery at each of the follow-ups, 3 of the 11 schizophreniform patients were in recovery for almost all of the follow-ups and thus could be viewed as showing a very favorable course over the 15 years.

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How Common Is Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is more common than most people think. About 1 in 200 of the people in the United States will develop schizophrenia over the course of their lives. It’s also important to know that schizophrenia has many different symptoms and can show up in many different ways.

Schizophrenia is not the same as a “split personality.” A split personality is another type of mental illness. Split personality is much less common than schizophrenia.

Weighing Of The Value Of Medical Functional Subjective And Societal Factors

(PDF) Is it possible to achieve functional recovery in schizophrenia? A ...

Concerning the broad range of views of even the most educated of persons in recovery from schizophrenia, it is not surprising that there exists considerable variation concerning the question of relative weighting of the several approaches to recovery addressed in this article. Medical/biological approaches to psychiatric disabilities include the traditional focus on symptom reducing but increasingly are encompassing other, related health issues, such as obesity, cardiovascular illness, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and other conditions that may be associated with medication side effects, and other issues affecting morbidity and mortality that may accompany serious mental illnesses.,

The measurable functional, psychosocial factors, ie, the degree to which individuals can care for themselves and can find a satisfactory role and quality of life in society, continue to be vitally important, but questions concerning the degree these matters as viewed by professionals are weighted, as opposed to the more subjective and societal factors embodied in the recovery model, is a matter that can be approached in a variety of ways by different consumer/survivor advocates. For example, the 3 authors of this article address this question very differently.

E.L.K. addresses the question concerning the weighing of these various factors with comments from a global perspective as well as from his personal experience. He comments:

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From The Medical Model To The Rehabilitation Models

The increasing presence of seriously mentally ill persons in the community gave rise to the recognition that although some persons with schizophrenia and similar disorders could function, to varying degrees, in society despite their conditions, it quickly became clear that there were difficulties reintegrating serious mentally ill persons into society. Initially, this problem was addressed by caretakers focusing on social as opposed to medical aspects of the disorder. The primary goal of care became to increase former patients ability to function in society, as opposed to the traditional focus on attempting to diminish or eliminate the symptoms of the disorder. Interestingly, the term, function, began to include the resources, as well as the skills needed, to succeed in an environment. The term psychosocial rehabilitation started to be used to describe this approach, which stressed the rehabilitation of those with the disability, as opposed to medical treatment of the disease. Importantly, stated principles of PSR included emphasis on client choice,strengths, and empowerment of consumers.

How Important Is Early Intervention And Treatment

Remission of symptoms is possible with early intervention, comprehensive treatment, and medication adherence. The earlier someone receives treatment for symptoms of psychosis, the better, to minimize unrecoverable psychological damage. But early intervention can also help to avoid unnecessary distress and fallout from the challenging combination of mood and psychotic symptoms.

Its critical for someone with schizoaffective disorder to develop a working foundation for their life in recovery. Initially, a residential treatment center is a great place to have access to all the available treatment options and to safely and comfortably discover what works best for the individual. While there is no cure for schizoaffective disorder, with continuing treatment, long-term supervision by a clinical team, and caring support from family and friends, someone can create a fulfilling life in recovery.

Begin Your Recovery Journey.

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Why Can’t Schizophrenia Be Cured

Schizophrenia is a mental illness and a psychotic condition characterized by a break with reality that causes a number of symptoms. The most typical symptoms are hallucinations and delusions, but this illness can also cause disordered thinking, unusual behaviors and emotional affect, mood changes, depression, and other symptoms that make it difficult to communicate with others, to relate to people, to hold down a job, to take care of responsibilities at home, or to be successful in school.

Schizophrenia is a severe and chronic mental illness, which means there is no cure for it. There are treatments, lifestyle changes, and other strategies that can be used to manage symptoms and to allow someone with schizophrenia to live a more normal life. A combination of medication and therapy is the most effective treatment, and although most people who get treatment see improvements, this condition requires ongoing, lifelong management.

Preventing And Managing Complications

Full Recovery from Schizophrenia – Jenny Lynn is Interviewed by Dr Pradeep Chadha

Another important part of managing schizophrenia is recognizing and dealing with the complications it can cause. All of the challenging symptoms can contribute to secondary problems, like suicide, self-harm, financial problems, academic difficulties, substance abuse, depression and anxiety, social isolation, and even being the victim of a crime or becoming homeless.

Only treating the condition does not necessarily help a person with schizophrenia live their best life. Anyone with this mental illness should be screened for other mental illnesses and substance use disorders and get treatment as needed. Family support is also crucial in helping manage or prevent some of these complications. Having family to live with, financial support, and a social support system can reduce the risk of negative behaviors, like self-harm, and can help a person maintain a job or get through school.

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Tip : Understand The Role Of Medication

If youve been diagnosed with schizophrenia, you will almost certainly be offered antipsychotic medication. The two main groups of medications used for the treatment of schizophrenia are the older or typical antipsychotic medications and the newer atypical antipsychotic medications. Its important to understand that medication is just one component of schizophrenia treatment.

Medication is not a cure for schizophrenia and only treats some of the symptoms. Antipsychotic medication reduces psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and disordered thinking. But is much less helpful for treating symptoms of schizophrenia such as social withdrawal, lack of motivation, and lack of emotional expressiveness.

You should not have to put up with disabling side effects. Schizophrenia medication can have very unpleasanteven disablingside effects such as drowsiness, lack of energy, uncontrollable movements, weight gain, and sexual dysfunction. Your quality of life is important, so talk to your doctor if youre bothered by side effects.

Never reduce or stop medication on your own.

Sudden or unsupervised dosage changes are dangerous, and can trigger a schizophrenia relapse or other complications. If youre having trouble with your medication or feel like you dont need to take it, talk to your doctor or someone else that you trust.

Learn To Recognise Your Early Warning Signs

These might include:

  • everyday things like going off your food, feeling anxious or not sleeping
  • not changing your clothes, cleaning your flat or cooking for yourself
  • feeling a bit suspicious or fearful or starting to worry about peoples motives
  • starting to hear voices quietly or occasionally
  • finding it difficult to concentrate.

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How Important Is Medication For Schizoaffective Disorder

With the right professional help, schizoaffective disorder is very manageable. A clinician can prescribe antipsychotic medication to manage the symptoms of schizophrenia, mood stabilizing medication to manage symptoms of mania, and/or antidepressants for symptoms of depression. With the correct medications and dosages, a client has a good chance of finding relief and living much more comfortably. While full recovery from schizoaffective disorder is possible by minimizing the symptoms entirely, it depends on continued treatment and medication adherence.

Therapy works alongside medication to manage behaviors and emotions. With the help of a therapist, they can keep a clear perspective on their goals in recovery and life in general. They can learn strategies to improve relationships even as they manage any schizoaffective disorder symptoms.

Treating Schizophrenia With Medication

(PDF) Is Recovery from schizophrenia possible? An overview of concepts ...

It can be easy to assume that any medication is a cure for an illness, but this isnt always true. With schizophrenia the medications used to treat it help to manage symptoms, but they do not cure the condition. Even though they do not provide a cure, they have an important role to play and help many people with schizophrenia get relief. Therapy alone is not enough to treat schizophrenia.

The medications used for schizophrenia are called antipsychotic drugs. These drugs are thought to work by acting on the neurotransmitter in the brain known as dopamine. They help relieve symptoms but can also cause side effects. The goal of using antipsychotics to treat schizophrenia is to use the lowest dose possible or the smallest combination of drugs that manage symptoms. Some patients may have to try more than one medication, or a combination of drugs, before settling on treatment that gets results with the fewest side effects.

Antipsychotics include first and second generation medications. The first generation drugs generally cause more side effects, but they are also less expensive. Second generation antipsychotics are generally preferred, as they come with less risk of serious side effects. Examples of second generation antipsychotics used to treat schizophrenia are:

  • Aripiprazole
  • Quetiapine
  • Risperidone

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Periods Of Recovery In Schizophrenia

presents a trajectory on recovery using the data on the percentage of patients showing recovery for a year or longer during the 15-year follow-up period:

  • The percentage of schizophrenia patients in recovery varied over the 15 years of follow-ups, with the smallest percentage at the 2-year follow-up and 19% or more at each of the subsequent follow-ups.

  • A smaller percentage of patients with schizophrenia than patients with other types of psychotic disorders were in recovery at each of the 5 follow-ups. At 4 of the 5 follow-ups the differences in recovery between the schizophrenia patients and the other psychotic patients also were significant . A significantly smaller percentage of schizophrenia patients than nonpsychotic patients were in a period of recovery at all 5 follow-ups .

  • Fitting with earlier research of ours, separate analyses of subtypes of schizophrenia do not show significant differences in global outcome or in the percentage of patients in a period of recovery at any of the 5 follow-ups when we compared the subsample of patients with paranoid schizophrenia with those with undifferentiated schizophrenia . In addition, there is not a significant difference in the percentage of patients from the paranoid versus the undifferentiated subtypes who ever experienced 1 or more periods of recovery. Astrup has also found similar results.

  • What Kind Of Symptoms Might People With Schizophrenia Have

    People with schizophrenia may have a number of psychotic symptoms. These symptoms can come and go in phases, or they can happen only once or twice in a lifetime. When the illness begins, psychotic symptoms are usually sudden and severe.

    During psychotic phases, the person may still understand parts of reality. He or she may lead a somewhat normal life, doing basic activities such as eating, working and getting around. In other cases, the person may be unable to function. Symptoms during psychotic phases include:

    • Seeing, hearing, feeling or smelling things that are not real .
    • Having strange beliefs that are not based on facts . For example, the person may believe that people can hear his or her thoughts, that he or she is God or the devil, or that people are putting thoughts into his or her head.
    • Thinking in a confused way, being unable to make order out of the world, shifting quickly from one thought to the next.
    • Having emotions, thoughts and moods that do not fit with events.

    People with schizophrenia also may:

    • Have a lot of energy or be overly active, or become “catatonic,” a state in which the body becomes rigid and cannot be moved.
    • Talk in sentences that do not make sense.
    • Not wash or groom.
    • Cut themselves off from family, friends and the outside world.
    • Be unable to function in school, work, or other activities.
    • Lose interest in life.
    • Be very sad or have mood swings.
    • Have dulled emotions.

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    How Is Schizophrenia Treated

    There are different types of treatment available. Medical professionals should work with you to find the right treatment for you. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends that you should be offered a combination of medication and talking therapies.

    People who live with schizophrenia can respond to treatment differently.

    For many treatment helps to reduce symptoms to help make daily life easier. You may find that you need to continue with treatment to keep well. For every 5 people with schizophrenia:

    • 1 will get better within 5 years of their first obvious symptoms.
    • 3 will get better but will have times when they get worse again.
    • 1 will have troublesome symptoms for long periods of time.

    What medication should I be offered?

    Your doctor may offer you medication known as an antipsychotic. These reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia, but dont cure the illness. Your healthcare professionals should work with you to help choose a medication. If you want, your carer can also help you make the decision. Doctors should explain the benefits and side effects of each drug.

    In the past, some antipsychotics had negative side effects. Some people find that the side effects of newer antipsychotic drugs are easier to manage.

    Your medication should be reviewed at least once a year.

    What type of psychosocial treatment will I be offered?

    Family intervention is where you and your family work with mental health professionals to help to manage relationships.

    Outcome And Medication Treatment

    SchizophreniaâTherapy Promoting Full Recovery

    Although most patients with schizophrenia were on antipsychotic medications, a sizable minority were not. Some chose to leave the mental health system because their symptom level and functioning improved. Some of those patients continued to function well for a period of time. Data by Fenton and McGlashan, other data of ours from our earlier studies, and more recent data of ours suggest that some of the schizophrenia patients who go off antipsychotics are a different type of patient. They have better premorbid developmental achievements, have more favorable prognostic characteristics, and are more resilient and less vulnerable to psychopathology , leading to their better functioning. Thus schizophrenia patients treated with antipsychotic medications at the 15-year follow-ups had significantly poorer global adjustment and outcome than those not on any medications . A larger percent of the schizophrenia patients not on medications were in recovery, and the data on recovery at the 15-year follow-ups are presented in . Similarly, the other types of psychotic patients not on medications at the 15-year follow-ups showed better outcome than those on medications .

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