Mental illness, psychotic disorder series: schizophrenia. This video is available for instant download licensing here: [ Ссылка ]
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Schizophrenia is a serious psychotic disorder characterized by a break from reality. Patients typically present with delusions, hallucinations, and disturbances in thought process and behavior.
Delusions are the most prominent feature of schizophrenia. Delusions are false beliefs that have no basis in reality. For example, patients may believe they have superpower, or that everyone is out to get them, or something strange or catastrophic will happen.
Hallucination is seeing or hearing things that are not there. The most common form is hearing voices.
Disturbances in thought process are expressed as disorganized, incoherent speech. Patients typically respond to questions with incomplete or unrelated answers.
Disturbances in behavior can be seen as inappropriate or strange postures, movements or comportment.
Delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech and behavior are classified as “positive” symptoms. The term “positive” here refers to processes that do not normally exist in healthy people.
Patients may also have “negative” symptoms, which refer to impairment of normal processes. Examples include lack of emotions, loss of interest, or lack of ability to experience pleasure.
Schizophrenia is most often diagnosed in young adults, with men being somewhat more affected than women.
Imaging studies show abnormalities in the brain of schizophrenia patients. There is also evidence of dysregulation of several neurotransmitters including dopamine, serotonin, glutamate, and GABA. The cause is, however, complex and likely to involve both genetic and environmental factors. There is a significant genetic component implicating multiple genes, some of which have been identified.
Environmental factors include pregnancy complications, such as maternal malnutrition, vitamin D deficiency, gestational diabetes, or preeclampsia; and birthing complications, such as emergency C- section. Other risk factors include use of psychoactive drugs during teenage years.
Diagnosis is based on a full psychiatric evaluation and criteria published by the American Psychiatric Association. A series of blood and urine tests must be done to rule out other conditions, such as electrolyte or hormone imbalances, that may cause similar symptoms.
The mainstay treatment for acute phase psychosis, when symptoms are severe, is medication.
Second-generation antipsychotics are generally preferred as they have less serious side effects than first-generation antipsychotics. However, all medications can cause significant adverse effects that require management. The goal is to effectively control symptoms at the lowest possible dose. It may take some time to establish the right combination of medications and dosage.
Electroconvulsive therapy, in which a brief seizure is induced to change the brain chemistry, emerges as a promising treatment option for people who do not respond to medications.
Once the symptoms subside, treatment shifts to maintenance phase. During this phase, in addition to medication, psychological and psychosocial therapies, such as psychotherapy, support group meetings, and social skill training… are vital to prevent relapse, and help rehabilitate the patient back into the community.
