Alternative Medicine

Complementary and Alternative treatment for schizophrenics 20

Running head: COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT FOR SCHIZOPHRENICS

Complementary and Alternative treatment for schizophrenics

Monique D Brown Wellons

Walden University

Complementary and Alternative treatment for schizophrenics

Introduction

Schizophrenia has its main treatment methods that are approved come with severe side effects, because of these serious side effects, diagnosed individuals need management to prevent their life from spiraling out of control any further. The treatment of schizophrenia has been proven to be more efficient with the use of the complementary medicine, and a regimen of psychotropic medications needs to be combined to be effective. The disease is mental and for this matter, frequent monitoring after administration of the illness will need to be done in different stages. Schizophrenia affects the neural brain systems whiches cause the dysfunctions of the brain, defects in the individual life such as (Danieli, 2000).

The use of the different methods has brought a change in the way in which the mental disorder has been treated and the various treatment plans. The advancement and research on the various methods of treating schizophrenia has helped patients in treatment programs and have brought on various alternatives in their treatment that are more efficient and work faster in the processing of the patient (Emsley, 2013).

The advancement of this treatment was done some years ago when the medication used was still in the form of herbs and holistic medicine utilized by the doctors. During the past century, many technical findings and industrialization greatly contributed to the progress in medicine and significantly improved a quality of life for psychiatric patients.

Schizophrenia affects the brain function in more ways than one and, it will manipulate the chemical imbalances in the brain (Munich, 2007). Due to the synthesis of the antipsychotic medication the progress has been made even better over the past century.

Researchers noticed that medications have failed and need secondary backing from the complementary medication for the drug to work efficiently. For instance, ancient Chinese and Egyptian history flourish with accounts of natural medicine such as acupuncture treatments, the use of herbs - which when looked at provides valuable information that is being utilized by the healthcare system nowadays. For centuries, the only medication available for the treatment of mental illnesses was the use of herbs (Munich, 2007).

These were the alternative methods that were available to people for treating various mental problems (IPF, 2005).

Alternative medicine is known as in our time and a term that entails other types of treatment methods, except for conservative medicine, for instance, formal medicine or what is known as orthodox medicine. An alternative treatment acts as a supplement to synthetic medicine that leads to different procedures and guidelines where there're positive results that cannot be ignored (IPF, 2005).

Researchers began looking for medications that will complement the treatment to avoid disappointments. Over the years researchers and those who discovered medicine steadily starts to realize that some of the medications used in the past years may be used as complementary methods without cause has censored and disqualified them from treatment of schizophrenia and other mental disorders.

Purpose of the Study

This research study is to look at the alternative and treatment methods for schizophrenia. The study will look at all the aspects of schizophrenia and the treatment methods that are being practiced in its treatment. The research paper will also look at the different treatment methods that act as the complementary treatment that should go together with the proposed synthetic medicine. There are some synthetic drugs that are being used for the treatment of schizophrenia.

The use of other therapies in the treatment of schizophrenia is also one of the areas that will be examined in this paper as it uncovers other means of treating patients with schizophrenia. The central questions the research will focus on are; what is schizophrenia? What are the primary methods of treating schizophrenia? What are some of the medications and side effects of schizophrenia? And what are the alternative methods of treating schizophrenia.

Rationale

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder but treatable which affects the mortality and the morbidity. The disease as stated earlier affects 1% of the population in America and therefore all over the world, the percentage is reduced to 0.6% of the global population will develop schizophrenia in their lives. The illness is common in young adults and even teenagers as young as 12 years of age (Munich, 2007).

However, the reversion of the occurrence of schizophrenia will occur all through the lifespan of the patient, and functioning of the brain is appreciably affected. Looking at the case in Canada, the direct health care in the country for the treatment of mental illnesses was estimated to be $1 billion as for patients with schizophrenia; they are at a considerably increased risk for homelessness, medical illnesses, violence, substance use, substance abuse, suicide, unemployment and victimization (IPF, 2005).

Additionally using effective treatment plans and complementary medicine for the patients with mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, the life expectancy for persons with the disorder will radically reduce. Utilizing Alternative treatments with the alternative medications will reduce symptoms, improve cognitive functioning, depression, moodiness, and social dysfunction. New treatments and service relief options underpin this remedial sanguinity (Obradovic, 2007).

Treatment methods based on this information will enable caregivers to help patients realize an enhanced level of self-sufficiency while diminishing the symptoms that are harmful and effects that will impact treatments. Treatment plans will describe realistic medical evaluations and administration strategies adapted to the individual.

Further, the approaches stress on the benefits of merging physical or therapeutic treatments with behavioral interventions.

The focus on interventions is most likely to lead to the greatest benefit and least disruption for the patient and his or her caregivers. The medications mentioned include those that are the most commonly used in the treatment of the disorder all over the world.

Having a treatment plan that will incorporate other methods of treating schizophrenia will enhance the time required for the symptoms to reduce and for others to disappear leading to a better quality of life as compared to using only one kind of treatment (Boscovic, 2008).

Literature Review

In this section, the paper will look at the literature that answers the questions in the study. The issues to be solved in the research will be done through the review of the literature and the information received from other research that can be directed to the study, therefore, the discussion will start with understanding schizophrenia and looking at how the disease will manifest itself in the patient with the different symptoms

DEFINITION OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that will lead to depression moodiness, hallucinations, delusions, disordered speech and disorganized thought sentences. The delusions and hallucinations may cause individuals to hear voices that are unreal (IPF, 2005). The delusions and hallucinations represent the nature of the mind seeing things that are unreal and having a different perception of reality. Chemical imbalances cause the hallucinations from the disorder in the brain. Due to the disturbance in the brain structure the brain will also cause the neuropathways to have trouble in making different memories, and the storage of the memories will be short, therefore, most of the patients will also suffer from short term memory lapses (IPF, 2005).

Researchers are not sure what causes schizophrenia; however there are different speculations of what may be related to the causing of the disease such as the hereditary passing of the disorder to the children, and influences within the environmental settings. A person’s brain structure or chemistry and the environment they live in may also play a role in developing schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is usually most seen in males in their early teens to pre-adulthood that leads researchers to believe that their environment is a linkage to this disease(Munich, 2007).

According to IPF, 2005 approximately 1% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with schizophrenia, this 1 in 100 people will be or are diagnosed with schizophrenia. The symptoms may vary from individuals however there are certain signs that regularly appear in a person diagnosed with schizophrenia, for instance some signs may present themselves in one patient and not the other however this may not be an indication of the severity of the disease or what stage the disease is at, but the signs will give an indication of the disorder being present in the individual. Although symptoms can differ, the most common symptoms of schizophrenia include:

· Hallucinations: This symptom refers to the patient seeing and hearing of things that are not there. They present in the patient as vivid images and sounds causing them to behave in a certain way; this is one of the primary signs that an individual has schizophrenia (IPF, 2005).

· Delusions: This is also another symptom that shows traits such as believing things that are not real and irrational. The patient will feel that the belief will shape his/her world, thoughts, and character in these delusions. For instance, some of the delusions that will be experienced will always be worrying that one is in danger or that they are being followed. Delusions are typically linked to the paranoia that is frequent in the patient who have schizophrenia.

· Speech Orientation: This refers to the way in which the schizophrenic patients will have disorganized speech and will say things that do not make sense. For instance, they will speak in unstructured sentences at times for no reason as they will not be speaking to anyone. Whatever they say will also not be meaningful and will not have any basis neither will it make sense?

· Cognitive Disabilities: The patient will repeat emotions and at times will not be in control or aware of his actions as they will be doing it subconsciously.

· Emotional problems: Talking with a flat voice and not showing any facial expressions, like a smile or a frown.

· Social Issues: The patient will not be able to make relationships quickly due to their conditions and will usually stay segregated from the rest of the population as they have trouble interacting with other people.

· Poor attention Span: The patient will have trouble paying attention and will have poor decision-making skills and poor judgment on things that may appear simple to the normal people.

· Depression: The patient will have low moods and will often be combated with thoughts of suicide.

THE TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Schizophrenia is an illness that will affect most of the primary aspects of the individual life; the main objectives are to eliminate the symptoms the patient is facing and reduce them as much as possible. Another goal is to improve the quality of life of the patient by including methods that promote self-sufficiency; such as the patient will be able to live by themselves or that the patient will be able to form relationships and be able to be part of a group (Boscovic, 2007).

The treatment of schizophrenia has been proven to be more efficient with the use of complementary medicine for it to be effective enough to help the patient in the long term.

The treatment plan should outline the best point of care for the patient, to improve communication and cognitive skills. The best way to assist an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia is to separate treatment in three phases; (1) acute phase, (2) stabilization phase, and (3) stable (Faries, 2005).

ACUTE PHASE

The treatment plan for this stage is for the psychiatrist/psychotherapist to make an initial diagnosis and to plan and begin treatment. The acute phase starts with a new onset or acute exacerbation of symptoms and spans the period until the symptoms are abridged to a level measured to be the patient’s expected datum. Examination of the symptoms of mental illness begins with a brief patient history followed by physical examination. The patient history should include all aspects of general psychiatric evaluation as well as a focal point on the detailed issues related to the mental disorder (Novak-Grubic, 2006).

STABILIZATION

According to Lobato (2001) the stabilization period is the period that follows the acute phase and is comprised of a time-limited conversion to ongoing conduct in the steady phase. Combining the acute phase and stabilization periods span approximately six months. The stable phase signifies a protracted era of treatment and healing where the symptoms are under enough control, and the focus is on improving recovery and the functionality of the patient. While these divisions may be rather by chance, they give an efficient structure for the treatment options.

Many of the therapeutic development in the treatment of schizophrenia over the past number of years have come from acknowledgment of the intricacies of the representations and the diverse stages of the mental illness. These insights into the multiple components of neuropathy in schizophrenia and the social life of the patient have resulted in the development of a broad range of treatments that aim for the definite aspects of schizophrenia. Credit of the diverse stages of the illness has led to various approaches to planning of the treatment, selection of the best treatment and practice to use and administration of medication (Emsley, 2013).

The disintegration of services and treatments has long been a problem in delivering complete care to persons with schizophrenia. several factors determine this fragmentation, including the use of many diverse treatment surroundings, the essential taking part of more than a few expert disciplines, and the use of numerous backing streams, joined with insufficient coverage and the decline in backing for private and even public mental health services. It is serious, that there be an overreaching plan for treatment that serves the short- and long-term needs of the patient, and that is periodically modified as clinical conditions alter and new understanding about treatments becomes accessible (Lobato, 2001).

STABLE PHASE

The stable phase is represented by the achievement of a certain number of goals that endorses insight and consider functional recovery, to be taught to notice early signs of decline and also to check for side effects and unwanted harmful conditions. Patients in this stable phase who have high-quality, functional recovery and are in a stable living situation should be assessed at least every quarter of the year by a doctor (IPF, 2005).

More recurrent assessments are often required by patients who, for example, have poor functional recovery or associated conditions such as drug abuse, have impeded communal support, are changing medications, or start a new psychosocial interference or are being exposed to worrying life actions. Unrelenting symptoms are not regularly related to visible patient suffering but a habitually bound purposeful improvement (Faries, 2005).

COMPLEMENTARY TREATMENT FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Personal Therapy

One of the alternative methods that can help schizophrenics is the use of CBT and personal therapy. This therapy is designed to help the patient to have a better feel of their body. This means that the treatment will look to help the patient to have their stimuli response better as most of the patients will lack energy leading to slower reactions to their stimuli.

Personal therapy, as is known also performs one of the most important functions in the treatment of schizophrenics as it aims to create an atmosphere that will lead to the patients having the ability to perform well under stress. When the treatment is done over an extended period, the treatment will result in improvement in the patient relation to their social skills and relation to the cognitive abilities of the patient. Personal therapy will, therefore, help in the creation of personal relationships and will increase the patients’ interpersonal skills.

It will also help the patients deal with stress. This method has been used in different situations and has helped the patients in their social functioning over the long run (Danieli, 2000).

Glycine Therapy - is considered to be one of the primary complementary medicines that is used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Glycine is an mostly viewed as a dietary supplement which contains amino acids and has been a theme of study for more than ten years as a way in which will lead to the treatment of schizophrenia for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a brain disorder, that will affect the brain receptors leading the patient to have synapses of the brain, and the brain may atrophy. The brain disorder affects the glutamate receptor in the brain, and this is why the brain may atrophy. When medications are added to the regular antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone, glycine will churn out to be a very helpful complementary treatment(Obradovic, 2007).

Antioxidant Vitamins - is a relation between the kinds of vitamins one will take and the health of the brain when dealing with mental illness. The type of food one will take will affect the treatment of the disorder.

There is an optimistic association amid superoxide creation and the harmful symptoms of schizophrenia. Antioxidants are high antioxidant vitamins such as; vitamin A, E, and C.

Studies show that this treatment has led to the improvement of the lives of other patients who have been using the method. Close to 10% of the individuals will improve the utilization of these methods. Some of the foods that can be taken include blueberries and spinach and even strawberries (Faries, 2006).

Omega-3 Fish Oils - research treatment of schizophrenia has both negative and positive reviews, however, the central idea is that people suffering from schizophrenia will benefit when using omega 3. A caution is given when using oil from different fish as the oil will not be valid for all kinds of fish. The dose of the fish oil should be administered at two thousand milligrams a day to help the patient (Faries, 2006).

POTENTIAL TREATMENTS THAT ARE BEING RESEARCHED

Arccosine (N-methylglycine) - due to the nature of the disorder, the glutamate receptors in the brain are dysfunctional, and this may lead to brain dysfunctions and brain synapses. Glycine and some of the supplements of glycine such as arccosine may become beneficial to patients with schizophrenia.

However, the treatment should be added to the medication the patient is taking to realize maximum benefits in the processing of the disorder.

From a research in the United Kingdom, researchers have studied and the findings show that patients that showed symptoms of schizophrenia were improving with the medication in terms of their cognitive and mental well-being (Faries, 2006).

CONCLUSION

The use of the different methods has brought a change in the way in which schizophrenia has been treated and the various treatment plans. This advancement research on the various methods of treating schizophrenia has helped the patients treatment plans by implementing various alternatives in their treatment that are more efficient and that can help work faster in the processing of the patient (IPF, 2005).

During the earlier years, the world of medicine has been changing with different discoveries happening now and again and, therefore, the medication based on the mental illness of the patients has also been advancing and it is because of this that the medication for schizophrenia has more options along with complimentary medication to assist the usual medication in their treatment.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder but treatable which affects the mortality and the morbidity. The disease as stated earlier affect 1% of the population in America and therefore all over the world, the percentage is reduced to less than a percentage of the global population will have schizophrenia in their lives.

The illness is common in young adults and an even teenager of 12 years and above. However the reversion of the occurrence of schizophrenia will occur throughout the lifespan of the patient, and the functioning of the brain is appreciably affected.

References

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Danieli, A., Dernovšek, M. Z., Darovec, J., & Žvan, V. (January 01, 2000). Preprečevalno in vzdrževalno nevroleptično zdravljenje shizofrenije =: Long-term prophylactic and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia. Zdravniški Vestnik, 69, 177-181

Emsley, Robin, Chiliza, Bonginkosi, Asmal, Laila, & Harvey, Brian H. (2013). The nature of relapse in schizophrenia. (BioMed Central Ltd.) BioMed Central Ltd.

Faries, Douglas, Ascher-Svanum, Haya, Zhu, Bao in, Correll, Christoph, & Kane, John. (2005). Antipsychotic monotherapy and polypharmacy in the naturalistic treatment of International Psychiatry Forum. (January 01, 2005). Schizophrenia: Genetics and treatment.

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