The Treatment of Schizoaffective Disorder
Schizoaffective disorder is a psychotic disorder that distorts a person’s perception of reality. Showing itself to be very similar to schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder has symptoms that include hallucination, delusions, and disorganized speech. This disease also shows similarities to affective disorders, such as bipolar disorder with symptoms including major depressive episodes, manic episodes, or these types of symptoms are mixed with those that are found in psychotic disorder. Like schizophrenia and affective disorders, this illness is difficult to treat on the basis of finding what is the cause of the episode, the type of treatment available for schizoaffective disorder, and the adherence to the regimen created for treatment. What shall be done here is to review various literature sources that go into detail of what schizoaffective disorder is and its causes, the types of treatments that are used for people with schizoaffective disorder, and the cooperation of patients with schizoaffective disorder.
Marneros and Angst (2000) did some searching to find the origins of schizoaffective disorder and they found that between the years 1860 and 1960, Karl Kahlbaum and eventually Kurt Schneider provided a type of category for schizoaffective disorder based on their findings of “longitudinal polymorphous psychotic disorders”, otherwise known as “concurrent” (pg. 111) schizoaffective disorder. This category was based on the amount of both schizophrenic and affective episodes. What this shows is that by observing patients and making diagnoses in regards to the onset, duration, and severity of each type of episode (pg. 111). There was also discussion on differentiating...
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... makes room to give an accurate reading of the MOAS scale. Once the results were analyzed they came to the conclusion that there was no significant difference between the three medication groups involving the duration of hospital stays and the proportion of subjects who were given the randomized medications (pg. 625). It was also found that there was no difference between the severity of violent outbursts for the three drugs (these results are in association with a primary measures of aggressions for the MOAS).
Medications are not the only way to treat persons with schizoaffective disorder. Community groups are also capable of providing care to those who are debilitated by this disorder and well as giving education to others on the topic of this illness.
Of course, treatment is only effective if the patient taking them is consistent in their regimen.
Patients are given a prescription of medications that reduce psychotic symptoms and antidepressants (2011). Schizoaffective disorder is a amalgamation of mood and cognitive disturbances. This was evident in the manner that interacted with her household help and sister. She was anxious whenever she had to give orders to her cook therefore, she had difficulty establishing a sense of control in her household. Treating schizoaffective disorder pharmacologically may be complicated because the individual may be too depressed or suffering from paranoia about the medication. Virginia may have benefited from medication because she had a support system that could assistance in compliance. When the patient takes the medications as prescribed the symptoms of paranoia , hopelessness and lack of concentration can be
The disorder is distinguished from Major Depressive Disorder by the presence of manic or hypomanic episodes. It comes from Schizoaffectice Disorder by the absence of psychotic symptoms, such as delusions, hallucination’s, during periods of stable mood. This disorder has a wide spectrum of disorders. One that includes in the spectrum is its beginning stage of Bipolar One. Bipolar One is characterized by a past of a least one manic episode, and usually depressive episodes. The next stage is Bipolar Two is characterized by the hypomanic episodes taking turns with depressive episodes. Cyclothymia is characterized by highs which satisfy some, but not completley all criteria for hypomania and lows which satisfy some but not all criteria for depression.
Last month, I shadowed a physician for four days. When I arrived at her office on the first day, she said to me, "Prepare yourself, we are going to the Provident." The Provident is a nursing home for the severely mentally ill. Many of the patients living there are under fifty years old, some are as young as thirty. None of the residents have any money. All are receiving welfare and are on Medicare.
A patient who has been hospitalized is usually treated with pharmacotherapy, which is treatment prescribed by a psychiatrist through different medications. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), family therapy and or orthomolecular therapy, which is vitamin and mineral supplements, are used to treat schizophrenia. Schizophrenia decrease life expectancy 12-15years and is one of the major causes of disability. Deinstitutionalization is a therapy treatment also, whereas the patient is able to live on his own within a gated community. The patient should not relapse as long as they are taking their medications. This shows that although your mind is split, you are still able to cope and live in society with this disease. As chaotic as schizophrenia is there is still hope and a belief that you can be helped and you can live in society.
Peer-to-peer treatment is also a promising possible intervention. It promotes active constructive involvement from people who have schizophrenia, provides role models for individuals whose functioning is less stable, and may be accessible in individual and group settings, in person as well as by telephone or through the Internet. However, further research is necessary to demonstrate its effectiveness in decreasing symptoms or otherwise clearly improving functioning for people with schizophrenia. There are many foundations dedicated to not only finding a possible cure, but finding new treatments and just improving the lives of schizophrenics in general.
Schizophrenia is a serious, chronic mental disorder characterized by loss of contact with reality and disturbances of thought, mood, and perception. Schizophrenia is the most common and the most potentially sever and disabling of the psychosis, a term encompassing several severe mental disorders that result in the loss of contact with reality along with major personality derangements. Schizophrenia patients experience delusions, hallucinations and often lose thought process. Schizophrenia affects an estimated one percent of the population in every country of the world. Victims share a range of symptoms that can be devastating to themselves as well as to families and friends. They may have trouble dealing with the most minor everyday stresses and insignificant changes in their surroundings. They may avoid social contact, ignore personal hygiene and behave oddly (Kass, 194). Many people outside the mental health profession believe that schizophrenia refers to a “split personality”. The word “schizophrenia” comes from the Greek schizo, meaning split and phrenia refers to the diaphragm once thought to be the location of a person’s mind and soul. When the word “schizophrenia” was established by European psychiatrists, they meant to describe a shattering, or breakdown, of basic psychological functions. Eugene Bleuler is one of the most influential psychiatrists of his time. He is best known today for his introduction of the term “schizophrenia” to describe the disorder previously known as dementia praecox and for his studies of schizophrenics. The illness can best be described as a collection of particular symptoms that usually fall into four basic categories: formal thought disorder, perception disorder, feeling/emotional disturbance, and behavior disorders (Young, 23). People with schizophrenia describe strange of unrealistic thoughts. Their speech is sometimes hard to follow because of disordered thinking. Phrases seem disconnected, and ideas move from topic to topic with no logical pattern in what is being said. In some cases, individuals with schizophrenia say that they have no idea at all or that their heads seem “empty”. Many schizophrenic patients think they possess extraordinary powers such as x-ray vision or super strength. They may believe that their thoughts are being controlled by others or that everyone knows what they are thinking. These beliefs ar...
There are perhaps two main prongs to the development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an intervention for schizophrenia, the first being based upon the sizable research that centre on family interventions, which have been successful in reducing patient relapse in schizophrenic families (Pilling et al., 2002). Family interventions are important to consider as they became established treatments during a phase where drug treatments were the main focus of attention in this field and so opened the area of non biological treatment for schizophrenia. And as I will touch upon later drug therapies are frequently used to reduce psychotic symptoms and relapse but these treatments rarely provide the answer, with as many as 50% of patients suffering from persistent psychotic symptoms when adhering to pharmacological treatments (Dickerson, 2000).
The presenting patient is a thirty-eight-year-old, Caucasian male, who was involuntarily admitted to Acadia Hospital on March nineteenth, with the admitting diagnoses of schizoaffective disorder and bipolar type. Police brought the patient to the emergency department after the patient was found dancing in and out of traffic, shirtless in fifteen-degree weather, and threatening employees and customers in local shops. Upon police custody the patient reportedly requested that they retrain him, for their comfort, and shoot him. Following medical clearance from the emergency department the patient was admitted, while displaying characteristics of grandiosity, psychosis, and reports of threating behaviors in the community. The patient has no known
While the title “Schizotypal” may send your thoughts to Schizophrenia, the two are quite different. For instance, Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which a patient will experience unreasonable anxieties as well as recurring hallucinations. In some severe cases, this illness can be truly debilitating, and a patient may need daily care. Schizotypal Personality Disorder, on the other hand, deals more with the anxious and suspicious nature of a patient as well as the strange mannerisms they might display. While patients do experience social anxiety and a distaste for maintaining close relationships, the DSM-5 places them under Cluster A, a group formed by the sharing of odd and eccentric behaviours between STPD, Paranoid Personality Disorder
Certain people with schizotypal personality disorder are usually described as odd or weird and usually have a low amount of good relationships. They typically don't understand how relationships are constructed. They also may misinterpret others' motivations, developing significant distrust of others. These problems may lead to severe anxiety, as the person with STPD responds inappropriately to social situations and holds odd beliefs. STPD is diagnosed in early adulthood and likely to continue, but symptoms might get better with age. Medications and therapy also may help. Someone who has great difficulty in establishing and maintaining close relationships with others characterizes Schizotypal personality disorder. A person with schizotypal personality
Schizotypal Personality Disorder is usually a long-term (chronic) illness. Outcome of the treatment varies based on the severity of the disorder. Due to the lack of people seeking treatment for this disorder,
The initial diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder can be somewhat confusing. Many patients and loved ones wonder, “What does that mean?” “How is it different than Schizophrenia?” We’re here to break it down for you. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) Schizoaffective Disorder is classified as: An uninterrupted period of illness during which there is a Major Mood Episode (Major Depressive or Manic) concurrent with the Criterion A of Schizophrenia. The Major Depressive Episode must include Criterion A1. Depressed mood. Delusions or hallucinations for 2 or more weeks in the absence of a Major Mood Episode (Depressive or Manic) during the lifetime duration of the illness. Symptoms that meet criteria for a Major Mood Episode are present for the majority of the total duration of the active and residual portions of the illness. The disturbance is not attributable to the effects of a substance or another medical condition.
Schizoaffective disorder is a serious mental illness that features of two different conditions. It is a combination of schizophrenia disorder and a mood disorder. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder that distorts how a person thinks, acts, and what they perceive as reality. The mood disorder most commonly associated with schizoaffective is bipolar disorder. This is an illness that is marked by emotional lows and highs as well as problems with concentration and remembering specific details. Patients may experience a deep depression, and then they may turn around and be at an emotional high. Schizoaffective patients, however, live with both the effects of schizophrenia, as well as bipolar disorder, making cooping with everyday life a struggle. Schizoaffective is a life-long illness and impacts all areas of daily life. Work, school, relationships, and common aspects of life are difficult for schizoaffective people. (WebMD, 2013)
“Treatment has been revealed to be effective in minimizing the symptoms and in helping the person better cope with the disorder and improve social functioning” (Yogewary, 2014). Treatment for schizoaffective disorder can be categorized as pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic. It is shown that 87 percent of those treated use a combination of pharmacologic agents such as antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilizers. In fact, 93 percent of those diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder receive antipsychotics (Buckley, Cascade, Kalali, 2009). “Antipsychotic medications are an effective treatment for schizoaffective disorder for most, but not all, persons with this disorder. These drugs are not a “cure” for the disorder, but they can reduce symptoms and prevent relapses among the majority of people with the disorder” (“Facts About Schizoaffective, n.d.). Lithium, a mood stabilizer, is also an important treatment. It can not only treat mania, but also prevent manic and depressive
Someday I would like to work with schizophrenics, I find the disease fascinating. I work with schizophrenic’s at my internship, granted, I only have them for a few days, maybe a week I learn so much from them. Knowing that there are five different types of schizophrenics and no cure, is fascinating to me that after all these years, there is not a cure. I feel that as a counselor, I need to be an advocate for patients with schizophrenia because the world sees them as different and individuals do not understand. For example, I have heard other individuals stating that schizophrenics have aggressive behavior. I have only been dealing with schizophrenics for about a year, however, I can say that I have never come across an individual with schizophrenia with an aggressive side to them.