By Arnab Dey
Schizophrenia is one of the many mental health disorders that have a vague cause and may affect anyone. It is also one of the unfortunate mental health conditions that have no treatments or cure.
Patients who have schizophrenia need help to live their lives in the best possible way through schizophrenia rehabilitation and with some medication that helps them control and manage their symptoms.
Schizophrenia is a rare disorder but is fast becoming one of the most common disorders in India. Today, there are around 2 people per 500 people who are affected by Schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia affects most people while they are young but at a young age, there are no symptoms of schizophrenia, or at least they are brushed off as young age behavior.
As they become older, well into their adolescence and teenage, the symptoms become more prevalent. By this time, the symptoms have already caused damage to the patient’s mental and social levels.
Schizophrenia – Causes and Symptoms
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects the brain and causes the patients to have hallucinations, impaired speech, and thoughts, slow deterioration of motor functions, inability to take care of themselves, etc.
It is caused by a variety of factors such as:
- Genetics
- Exposure to chemicals or radiation or radioactive elements as a child
- Extensive stress or trauma as a child
- Damages in the brain
- Consumption of psychedelic drugs
These are some of the causes of schizophrenia in children. Most patients develop this disease in their childhood or adolescence but it takes many years for people to have stronger symptoms which makes the patients more susceptible to the disorder.
Below are the signs of schizophrenia:
- Hallucinations
- Fears and feelings of anxiety and depression
- Delusional Behaviour
- Impairment in Speech and Thoughts
- Abnormal Physical Behaviour (Twitching, Improper posture, excessive movements)
- Lack of emotions
- Reckless anger and frustration
- Poor performance at school/college
- Lack of social group/friends
- Inability to sleep
- Depressed behavior with no self-confidence
These are some of the signs of schizophrenia in children and teenagers. Adults may have the same symptoms but with a higher degree of hallucinations and/or delusions. Schizophrenia rehabilitation is the only proper management method to treat children and adults who have this disorder.
Related Resource: Thirty Day Mental Health Care Challenge For You
Treating Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a disorder that cannot be cured, it can be managed and controlled before getting worse with schizophrenia rehabilitation. Schizophrenia needs to be diagnosed before it can be treated and therefore, it requires medical intervention.
At a rehabilitation center, doctors would first set up several tests and scans to understand the disorder and the stage at which the patient currently is.
The symptoms are also studied to understand the degree of the effect on the individual. Scans of the brain and blood tests are done so as to finally diagnose the disorder before planning the treatment course.
Medicines such as psychiatric drugs help in controlling schizophrenia episodes that often cause anger, anxiety, and fear in patients because of hallucinations and delusions.
Therapies such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Group Counselling, One on One therapy, Family Therapy, etc., can help patients slowly improve their relationships, change and control their mood and improve their symptoms.
In rehab, patients are often enrolled in vocational training so that they can work on their skills and be able to support their own lives with small-time jobs and improve their lifestyles.
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