Non-Drug Treatments of Schizophrenia

Medication for mental illnesses harms the patients. The amount of prescription medication that is given to those who have mental illnesses is outrageous. Though some believe that the patients are directly affected, as are the patients families and those who have direct contact with the patient. This is a false claim though the medication given to patients are almost sedatives and the patients can do much better without them. Although some say that restricting medications is harming people with mental disorders, the amount of prescribed medications can, over time, deteriorate the brain and make symptoms worse, therapy has been proven more effective and the diagnoses for symptoms is not detailed enough.

I have chosen six sources to give me and show me differences in the use of drugs to relief the affects of schizophrenia. I am using two journal articles, one from the British Medical Journal and one from the Journal of Genetic Psych... ... middle of paper ... ...ion after 18 months" (Driedger, 2) With these results, it seems that in addition to drugs, therapy is very effective. But with its success there has to be a lot of time put into this. Only after 18 months of this therapy, Driedger noticed a difference with patients. But even after these 18 months "patients still lacked skills needed for independent living" (Driedger, 2) Leibman agrees that his therapies were also extremely time consuming, but did show positive affects.

In other words, they have lost in touch with the reality. Most schizophrenics accept the fact that they have this disorder and are willing to receive necessary treatment and listen to, if not follow, professional advice. However there are cases where patients have lost insight and do not acknowledge the fact that they suffer from a mental disorder. As a result, these people do not have the treatment normally patients with schizophrenia do. To observers, schizophrenia may seem like a disease or madness because people who have this disorder behave differently to the people that are considered “normal.” It impairs a person from doing work, going to school, taking care of his/herself or having a social relationship with others.

When I say damaging, I mean neurotoxicity and down regulation to mostly Dopamine but may also affect Serotonin, GABA and even acetylcholine. The damaging effects can be permanent if meds are taken too long. If you have a heart problem you don't go to your normal family physician but a Cardiologist which specializ... ... middle of paper ... ... psychiatric medications only after a diagnosis has been made by a licensed psychiatric specialist. This way people won’t be discouraged from seeking out mental help due to financial problems. A psychiatrist can be expensive if insurance doesn’t cover every visit, so allowing a general physician to write prescriptions after a diagnosis would be far more reasonable on the wallet of all patients.

Past physicians carried a certain authority over the treatment given to patients, however, due to medical progressivism, patients are given more rights to determine the treatments they can accept. Although these steps are certainly in the right direction, there has been a certain ethical dilemma as many doctors are forced to accept patient demands even when it is not the best course of action (Gawande 216). It is easy for us to affirm certain platitudes about patient interests being first in healthcare, but it is also important to investigate the specific nuances of patient care. In many situations, the patient truly is not well versed enough to make decisions about their care (227). While sometimes patients may truly be thankful for a physician’s intervention, any autonomous decision by physicians creates a dangerous precedent for doctor intervention in patient care.

You may not even have known you had the condition until it showed up on a routine examination. That makes it easy for patients to ignore the prescribed treatment regimens. Non-compliance can, of course, have dire consequences. • The cost of the treatment. Your medications and therapies may or may not be covered by insurance, and the more out-of-pocket cost to the patient, the less you are likely to adhere to buying the drugs or making treatment appointments.

The over prescription of mostly un-needed ADHD medication will only cause issues for children who are given these medications to moderate their behavior. Giving children who may not even have ADHD, medication as an easy treatment is not a solution to a behavioral condition that will last throughout their lifetime. The over prescription of medication is hindering the abilities and possibilities of children who do not truly need the medication. The number of individuals with ADHD continues to grow and while doctors continue to hand out prescriptions without a real evaluation, individuals on medication to control their behavior cannot be the only solution.

Also healthcare providers can now see when their patient was last in to see another doctor and what there diagnosis was creating a more stable health system and less medication reactions. Although there is always room error but if every hospital adopts this system there is a good possibility that polypharmacy may be a thing of the past. Polypharmacy is becoming a fatal epidemic for the elderly, it is pertinent to know the risks and ways to prevent

It has also been argued that the recovery model attempts to hide the dominance of the medical model. This marginalizes those who do not fit into a recovery narrative. Professionals have said that majority of the people who a serious illness, such as schizophrenia, require both psychotropic and psychosocial interventions to help cure their symptoms during a crisis (Rosenson, 1993). Therefore, the recovery model has been criticized for its emphasis away from medicalization. In addition, it can be argued that that while the approach may be a useful for corrective measures, institutional and personal difficulties make it essential that there be sufficient ongoing effective support with stress management and coping in daily life.

It is known mentally disordered people are often not able to recover and become healthy mental status again. In Corrigan’s study, it is mentioned that clinical diagnosis might enhance the stigmatization of mental illness. Diagnosis classification is widely used by clinicians to save time from computing a large amount of information, classify the disorder and provide the information about the illness to patients (Corrigan 33). This classification causes labeling patients as mentally ill, even if their symptoms might be slightly different than classified. The Majority of patients do not receive proper treatment in an effort to avoid being labeled as “ill” (Corrigan 31).