Sunday, March 24, 2024

What Do Schizophrenia Medications Do

Don't Miss

Does Alcohol Affect Antipsychotics

What it’s like to have schizophrenia

You should tell your doctor if you drink alcohol. Drinking alcohol can make it harder for your body to absorb medication. This could increase the effects alcohol has on you. For example, drinking alcohol with antipsychotics might increase the sedative effects.

This means you might feel very tired. You may find more information about alcohol and your medication in the patient information leaflet.

Inpatient Treatment For Schizophrenia

In severe episodes of schizophrenia, hospitalization may occur, and it may be voluntary or involuntary based on the situation. The goal of hospitalization is to help an individual control their symptoms so they can regain the ability to function in day-to-day life.

During hospitalization, doctors will be able to observe the person and run tests to better understand their condition. If the person is visiting the hospital for schizophrenia for the first time, doctors may prescribe medication or other treatment to help manage the symptoms.

Sometimes, people with schizophrenia donât recognize that they need help and may refuse or forget to take their medication. If symptoms return for this reason or another, another hospital visit could be necessary.

There are cases when a person must be hospitalized involuntarilyâthis occurs when the person with schizophrenia is a danger to themselves or others. While a very small fraction of those with schizophrenia are violent towards others, their risk for suicide is high. In many cases, state laws determine in which specific cases a person must be hospitalized.

How Is Schizophrenia Diagnosed And Treated

Your healthcare provider will examine you. Your provider will ask if you have a history of psychological trauma, such as physical, sexual, or mental abuse. Your provider will ask if you were given the care that you needed when you needed it. Tell your provider if you have a history of alcohol or drug abuse. Your provider will ask if you want to hurt or kill yourself or others. Tell your provider about your hobbies and goals, the people in your life who support you, and how you feel about treatment. The answers to these questions help healthcare providers plan your treatment. Antipsychotics help decrease psychotic symptoms and severe agitation. You may need antiparkinson medicine to control muscle stiffness, twitches, and restlessness caused by antipsychotic medicines.

Read Also: What Part Of The Brain Does Schizophrenia Affect

Where To Find Treatment

If you experience symptoms of schizophrenia it is best to speak with your doctor. They may want to do blood work and run tests to make sure the symptoms are not being caused by another medical condition. From there you can meet with a psychiatrist or other qualified mental health practitioner to discuss what you are experiencing.

Keep in mind that you may need to be evaluated extensively to make sure that the diagnosis is accurate. This evaluation process involves meeting with you to talk about your experiences, as well as meeting with a spouse or other family members to gather collateral information.

What Increases My Risk For Schizophrenia

Best Schizophrenia Treatment in Ludhiana, Schizophrenia therapy in Punjab

Healthcare providers do not exactly know what causes schizophrenia. Providers believe that it is caused by chemicals, in your brain, not being balanced. Stressful events or accidents may trigger symptoms. The following may increase your risk:

  • You have a family member with schizophrenia.
  • You were exposed to substances such as amphetamines and opiates.

Also Check: Which Gender Is More Depressed

When Might You Recommend Each Of The Above Options For A Patient

The treatment of schizophrenia typically begins with second-generation antipsychotics. If it proves difficult to achieve significant control of symptoms, doctors may recommend first-generation drugs to provide more relief.

First-generation antipsychotics may also be the treatment of choice when a person has a personal history of doing well with a drug in this category or is unable to tolerate the side effects associated with second-generation antipsychotics.

Doctors may recommend long-acting injections for people who find it challenging to adhere to an oral medication regimen, such as those who have difficulty remembering to take medication daily.

The symptoms of schizophrenia mean that it can negatively affect a persons ability to:

  • maintain housing

These drugs have an association with sexual dysfunction, as well.

Second-generation drugs are less likely to cause these types of symptoms but may lead to metabolic symptoms, such as:

  • elevated blood sugar levels
  • increased blood lipids

If left uncontrolled, these symptoms can lead to physical health issues, such as diabetes and heart disease.

What If I Want To Stop Taking Antipsychotics

If you want to stop taking antipsychotics, you should discuss this with your doctor.

Your doctor should discuss the negatives and benefits of stopping antipsychotics. You can ask them about these things. Its important to think about the negatives and benefits of stopping antipsychotics.

If you decide to come off antipsychotics your doctor will help you come off the medication gradually by reducing the dose over a period of time.

If you stop antipsychotics suddenly it can cause ‘rebound psychosis’. This means that the symptoms of your illness return suddenly, and you may become unwell again. This is also known as relapse.

If you or your family or friends think you are becoming unwell again, you should speak to your doctor.

You may find that stopping your medication can lead to your symptoms returning within 3-6 months. Your doctor may suggest that you keep taking the medication because it is keeping you well. If this is the case, you could ask about trying another type of medication.

If you want to stop taking antipsychotics, it is important to consider what happened during previous episodes of illness. The risk of the same symptoms occurring again needs to be weighed up against not having the side effects of the medication and any other things important to you. Your doctor can talk these things through with you to help you come to the best decision.

Can I experience withdrawal symptoms from stopping antipsychotics?

Do I have to take antipsychotics?

Don’t Miss: What Does Ptsd Do To A Person

When Is Clozapine Used

Clozapine is the only medicine that has been shown to help people with schizophrenia when their illness has not responded to treatment with other antipsychotic medicines1.

It is usually only used after two or more antipsychotic medicines have been tried and found not to be helpful. Once it is clear that the illness has not done well with standard antipsychotic medication, the sooner treatment with clozapine is started the better the chance of it being really helpful 8.

Clozapine has many of the same side-effects as other antipsychotic medicines.

However, it seems to have very little, if any, effect on the dopamine systems which control movement, and so causes hardly any of the stiffness, shakiness, slowness or restlessness that you can get with other antipsychotic medicines.

It also does not seem to produce the longer-term problem of tardive dyskinesia and can actually be used to relieve this in some people.

The main drawback is that it can affect the bone marrow, leading to a shortage of white cells in the blood. This makes the person being treated with clozapine vulnerable to infection, which can be life-threatening.

If the number of white cells drops too far, the medication is stopped at once so that the bone marrow can recover. So everybody prescribed clozapine needs to have weekly blood tests for the first 18 weeks of treatment and then 2-weekly blood tests up to one year. After that, the tests are monthly 9.

Antipsychotic Medication And Adverse Effects

What’s it like to live with #schizophrenia?

In Leuchts’ meta-analysis, amisulpride proved to be the best in terms of tolerability, with less discontinuation due to side effects compared with placebo. Haloperidol was the worst drug for discontinuation rates compared with placebo. Haloperidol was identified as the medication most likely to cause EPSEs, while weight gain and metabolic dysfunction were most notably identified with the use of olanzapine and clozapine , findings that have been consistently replicated in other studies.

You May Like: Did David Bowie Have Schizophrenia

Does Everyone With Schizophrenia Need To Stay On Medication For Life

Most individuals with schizophrenia will require lifelong treatment with medication to assure continued success and stability.

Dr. Nicole Washington is a board certified psychiatrist and Chief Medical Officer of Elocin Psychiatric Services, a primarily virtual practice where she focuses on the mental health needs of the busy professional. Dr. Washington has spent most of her career caring and being an advocate for those who are not typically consumers of mental health services namely underserved communities and high performing professionals.

Through her practice, the Amazon best-selling book, From Introspection to Action: The High-Level Professionals 28 Day Journey to Improving Mental Health, and her podcast, The C-Suite Confidant, she hopes to break down barriers to receiving treatment that these populations face, as well as engage listeners in topics relevant to the busy professional. She is a sought-after speaker on a variety of mental health topics and enjoys working with organizations on initiatives that create environments that are supportive of the mental well-being of their employees.

Which Therapies Are Used To Treat Schizophrenia

  • Assertive community treatment includes a team of healthcare providers and support groups in your community that help you with your therapy.
  • Cognitive behavior therapy helps you to change certain behaviors. It will help you handle symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.
  • Illness-management skills teach you what you can do to help manage your disease.
  • Family psychoeducation helps your family be a part of your therapy.
  • Social skills training helps you learn how to get along with other people.
  • Supported employment is a form of therapy that places you into a job that fits your skills. It will help give you independence and self-confidence.

Recommended Reading: What Va Rating Is Ptsd

How Long Youll Take Them

Each person with schizophrenia is different. Most people need to take some form of medication their whole lives.

Sometimes, people need to try a different dose or medication. But you should never stop suddenly. If the doctor says you can stop a medication, you will taper off it, a little at a time.

Your doctor may suggest other ways to address so-called negative symptoms, which include social withdrawal, lack of motivation, or lack of emotional expression. Antipsychotics don’t work as well for these kinds of symptoms.

Also, your doctor may prescribe antidepressants if you get depressed.

What To Do If A Loved One Has Schizophrenia

Pin on Schizophrenia

When someone you care for has schizophrenia, it can be difficult to know what to say to support them or what to do if they are having trouble acknowledging or coming to terms with their condition. Some tips for helping a loved one with schizophrenia include:

  • Talk to someone with schizophrenia the same way you would talk to anyone else. In some cases, those with schizophrenia may appear disinterested, but this may not always indicate a wish to disengage.
  • Donât tell a person with schizophrenia to âjust stop listeningâ if they experience auditory hallucinations, as it is not an easy matter to âtune outâ from them.
  • If your loved one is hospitalized, be there to support them during and after the visit. The first days or week after leaving the hospital may be difficult to cope with alone.
  • Donât continually remind your loved one to take their medication. If forgetfulness is an issue, work with them to develop a plan for remembering to take it.
  • If someone with schizophrenia refuses to accept treatment, you cannot force them to do so. In most cases, treatment may only be mandated by law if the person is a danger to themselves or others.

Much like any other mental health issue, those with schizophrenia may have days when their symptoms are better, and others when they are worse. Being there to offer support is often key. If providing care begins to cause burnout, seeing a therapist may help you develop strategies to cope, as well.

You May Like: What Is The Best Medication For Panic Attacks

Clozapine: A Special Case

Clozapine is unique among antipsychotic medications and can be viewed as a standalone third class of antipsychotic. It is the only antipsychotic medication that has proven effectiveness in treatment-resistant schizophrenia . The precise mechanism of clozapine’s superior effectiveness in TRS has not been established, but some 5060% of patients with schizophrenia refractory to other antipsychotics will respond to clozapine. Clozapine produces robust antipsychotic effect at < 65% threshold of striatal D2 receptor blockade, suggesting that beyond D2 receptor blockade in the striatum, other receptors or mechanisms also contribute to its therapeutic effect.

Clozapine and TRS are considered in greater detail in the following text.

Schizophrenia: Recovery Is Possible

Getting a diagnosis of schizophrenia can be devastating. You may be struggling to think clearly, manage your emotions, relate to other people, or even function normally. But having schizophrenia doesnt mean you cant live a full and meaningful life. Despite the widespread misconception that people with schizophrenia have no chance of recovery or improvement, the reality is much more hopeful. Although currently there is no cure for schizophrenia, you can treat and manage it with medication, self-help strategies, and supportive therapies.

Since schizophrenia is often episodic, periods of remission from the severest symptoms often provide a good opportunity to start employing self-help strategies that may help to limit the length and frequency of future episodes. A diagnosis of schizophrenia is not a life-sentence of ever-worsening symptoms and hospitalizations. In fact, you have more control over your recovery than you probably realize.

The majority of people with schizophrenia get better over time, not worse. For every five people who develop schizophrenia:

  • One will get better within five years of experiencing their first symptoms.
  • Three will get better, but will still have times when their symptoms get worse.
  • One will continue to have troublesome symptoms.

Also Check: What Is The Phobia Of Clowns Called

Medications For Schizophrenia Treatment

Antipsychotic drugs are often used to treat schizophrenia. These medications help relieve hallucinations, delusions, and thinking problems.

Antipsychotics work by changing the way certain chemicals, called neurotransmitters, act in the brain. By altering those chemicals, antipsychotics can affect brain circuits involved in thinking, mood, and perception.

There are many different antipsychotic drugs on the market. You may hear your doctor refer to first-generation or second-generation antipsychotics.

Newer drugs arent necessarily better drugs. Several reviews and studies in adults and children have found that the differences between the classes are relatively small and difficult to predict. Both classes may be about as effective at reducing so-called positive schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions, though second-generation antipsychotics may be better at treating so-called negative symptoms, such as depressed mood and social withdrawal. Not every drug will work for every person.

Schizophrenia In Therapy: Case Example

Schizophrenia – causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment & pathology

Therapy for negative symptoms of schizophrenia: Sheila, 27, has noticed an increased wish to self-isolate. Being around family members and coworkers has been causing her to experience severe stress reactions, so she tries to be home by herself as often as she can. However, when she is home, she begins to have frightening visual hallucinations that make it look like her house is crumbling around her. After some time, a family member suspects Sheila may need help and asks her if they can help. The family member helps Sheila set up an appointment with a therapist, who diagnoses Sheila with schizophrenia. They refer her to a psychiatrist for medication to control the hallucinations, but Sheila continues to see her therapist while she takes her medication. Working with a therapist helps Sheila address some of the negative symptoms of her schizophrenia, including social withdrawal and a loss of pleasure in daily life.

References:

  • Brichford, C. . Hospitalization for schizophrenia. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.com/schizophrenia/hospitalization-for-schizophrenia.aspx
  • Buckley, L. A., Maayan, N., Soares-Weiser, K., & Adams, C. E. . Supportive therapy for schizophrenia. Retrieved from https://www.cochrane.org/CD004716/SCHIZ_supportive-therapy-schizophrenia
  • Helping someone with schizophrenia. . Retrieved from https://www.yourhealthinmind.org/mental-illnesses-disorders/schizophrenia/helping-someone
    • Client referrals

    Recommended Reading: How To Know You Have An Eating Disorder

    Types Of Antipsychotic Medications

    There are two groups of antipsychotics. Doctors call the older group of medications âfirst-generation,â âtypical,â or âconventionalâ antipsychotics. Some common ones are:

    Note: Clozapine is the only FDA-approved medication for treating schizophrenia that is resistant to other treatments.

    Schizophrenia Medications List By Category

    Researchers in the fields of neuroscience and psychiatry havent yet discovered the cause of the brain illness we call schizophrenia. Nor have they found a cure for schizophrenia. Medication, therefore, is used to lessen the symptoms and negative effects of schizophrenia on peoples lives.

    Many different medications have been developed to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. A complete list of schizophrenia medications includes all four types.

    Also Check: How To Help Yourself With Depression

    Does Smoking Affect Antipsychotics

    You should tell your doctor if you smoke. This is because smoking interacts with the way medication is absorbed in your body. If you are thinking of quitting smoking, you should discuss this with your doctor. If you stop smoking suddenly, this can affect the levels of medication in your body. This can cause serious side effects.

    Side Effects Of Antipsychotic Medications

    The Truth Behind Psychiatric Medication

    Antipsychotic medications should come with a leaflet about the specific medication prescribed. This includes information on side effects and what to do if they are overwhelming.Possible side-effects of antipsychotics include:

    • weight gain that can lead to diabetes
    • movement effects
    • loss of menstrual periods in women
    • fluid retention
    • sexual problems

    It is important to remember that the same medication can affect different people in different ways. Not everyone will have the same unwanted side effects.

    Read Also: Is Stress The Same As Anxiety

    The Prevalence Of Schizophrenia: How Common Is The Disease

    Approximately 100,000 young people in the United States experience an episode of psychosis each year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness . Psychosis is a break with reality that can involve paranoia, hearing voices, or having other hallucinations or delusional thoughts.

    Not everyone who experiences psychosis has a mental illness. Psychosis is a symptom, not a disease: It is characteristic of schizophrenia, but psychosis can also be caused by other psychiatric disorders, substances, and a variety of medical conditions.

    More articles

    Popular Articles