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Can a person recover from schizophrenia?
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Can schizophrenia be cured?
Jun 24, 2024 · One study found that symptoms go away in about 70% of the people who get treatment. Their social occupational functions often improve within 6 months, although that score may not rise much...
- Overview
- Can schizophrenia be cured?
- What about remission or functional recovery from schizophrenia?
- What is schizophrenia?
- What are the symptoms?
- How is schizophrenia treated?
- How is schizophrenia diagnosed?
- What’s the outlook for an individual with schizophrenia?
- The bottom line
Schizophrenia is a long-term mental disorder that it makes it difficult for an individual to focus, think clearly, interact easily with other people, and keep emotions in check.
There is currently no cure for schizophrenia, though there are medications and other treatments that have proven effective in managing certain symptoms, allowing individuals with schizophrenia to achieve quality of life.
Treatment is a lifelong necessity for someone with schizophrenia, and assistance with certain aspects of daily living is required for many people with the illness.
Like depression or bipolar disorder, schizophrenia can sometimes present with very intense symptoms, while at other times signs of the conditions are much less obvious. Working closely with a mental health professional with experience treating schizophrenia is vital to helping people with the disorder live as healthy a life as possible.
Schizophrenia affects an estimated 0.25 to 0.64 percent of the U.S. population, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. But despite years of research, scientists have yet to come up with a cure for schizophrenia or a way to prevent it.
Great advances have been made, however, in the treatment and understanding of this serious mental illness.
Like some other types of mental illness, schizophrenia symptoms can sometimes wax and wane throughout a person’s life. An individual may have an intense schizophrenic episode and go for months or years with little or no issue related to the disease. In most cases, however, even people receiving effective and consistent treatment must contend with at least some consequences of the disease.
But with a combination of medications, psychosocial therapy, and lifestyle adjustments, functional recovery and functional well-being are realistic goals for people with schizophrenia. Though an exact picture of what functional recovery looks like is still somewhat debated among clinicians, a survey of mental health experts reported in BMC Psychiatry suggests that functional recovery involves concepts such as:
•quality of life
•functional autonomy
•cognitive health
•holding a job
Schizophrenia is a potentially debilitating chronic psychiatric disorder. It’s characterized by episodes of distorted reality, and often delusions or hallucinations. It also affects a person’s perceptions of reality, interactions with others, and expressions of emotion.
Schizophrenia used to be classified into five subtypes in the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). However, the health experts who publish the guide eventually eliminated the classifications, because there were too many overlapping symptoms to make the subtypes helpful to clinicians.
The five traditional subtypes, which are still used to help explain the various forms of the disease, are:
•Paranoid. Marked by hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, concentration problems, and poor impulse control and emotional management
•Hebephrenic. No hallucinations or delusions, but speech disturbances, disorganized thinking, difficulties with daily functioning and flat affect (the inability to display emotions)
•Undifferentiated. The presence of symptoms from more than one subtype
Mental health professionals classify most schizophrenia symptoms as either positive or negative. Other symptoms involve cognition and inappropriate motor behaviors.
•Positive symptoms include hallucinations and delusions, both of which can often be managed with medications. They aren’t considered positive because they are helpful or healthy, but rather because they appear because certain regions of the brain are activated.
•Negative symptoms appear to stem from diminished activation of certain parts of the brain, and don’t usually respond as well to medical therapy as positive symptoms. Negative symptoms include those that interfere with normal, healthy functioning. They include problems interacting with other people and little desire to form social connections, as well as the inability to show emotions and feel pleasure and rewards.
•Cognition challenges associated with schizophrenia include confusion and disorganized speech. Thinking and verbal skills can become impaired, so, for example, an answer to a question may not make sense to the person asking the question.
While medications comprise a significant weight of schizophrenia treatment, research published in Frontiers in Public Health suggests that a more holistic approach that pairs medications with other non-pharmacological treatments — yoga, cognitive behavior therapy, etc. — may be best suited to help people manage their symptoms and their daily responsibilities.
It’s important to note that schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment, even if symptoms are well-managed or appear to have abated.
Schizophrenia is often diagnosed in a person’s late teens through early 30s. Males tend to show signs of the disease a little earlier than females. Someone with schizophrenia may show some early signs of schizophrenia, such as cognitive troubles or difficulties with social interactions, years before a diagnosis is made.
While the symptoms of schizophrenia can sometimes be quite obvious and life-changing, diagnosing schizophrenia can often be difficult. The use of certain mind-altering drugs, such as LSD, can produce schizophrenia-like symptoms, for example.
Even more challenging is that many people with schizophrenia don’t believe they have it or any other mental disorder. This not only means many people never get diagnosed in the first place, but that those who do begin treatment often stop taking medications or attending therapy because they insist they don’t need it.
Diagnosing schizophrenia relies largely on the observation of symptoms over a period of months, while eliminating other potential causes of such symptoms — such as a brain tumor, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, or other separate mental disorder.
To be formally diagnosed with schizophrenia, a person must have at least two of the following symptoms, and they must persist regularly:
•delusions
The challenges facing people with schizophrenia are plentiful and often severe. But with proper treatment, some of the more severe symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, may be made more manageable.
Lifelong treatment is necessary and medication needs may change through the years. Dosages may have to be adjusted and certain medications may need to be changed, added, or subtracted, depending on how the individual responds.
A study in the journal Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatria suggests that about one in seven people with schizophrenia can achieve functional recovery. With no cure in sight, that means the majority of people with schizophrenia will have to deal with symptoms for the rest of their lives.
Schizophrenia should be considered a treatable disease, though the effectiveness of treatment can vary dramatically from one person to the next. Access to proper healthcare is essential, as is commitment to a treatment regimen.
Individuals who are reluctant or unable to take their medications regularly and follow through on other components of their treatment may need a family member or health aide to assist them. The severity of schizophrenia also varies, so expectations of symptom management and quality of life need to be tempered based on the nature of the individual’s condition.
Family members willing to deal with the challenges of living with a person with schizophrenia must be prepared for helping with everything from hygiene to meal preparation to transportation.
Schizophrenia is one of the top 15 causes of disability around the world, affecting an estimated 20 million people globally, according to the 2016 Global Burden of Disease Study. Though it can be difficult to diagnose and treat, this serious mental health disorder can be treated — not cured yet — with a combination of medications and other interventions.
Though they face a lifelong challenge, with the support of a team of healthcare professionals, family members, and the community, people with schizophrenia can often attain a productive and socially fulfilling quality of life.
- James Roland
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Most people with schizophrenia make a recovery, although many will experience the occasional return of symptoms (relapses). Support and treatment can help you to manage your condition and the impact it has on your life.
When to get medical advice. If you're experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia, see a GP as soon as possible. The earlier schizophrenia is treated, the better. There's no single test for schizophrenia. It's usually diagnosed after an assessment by a mental health care professional, such as a psychiatrist. Causes of schizophrenia.
- Hallucinations. Hallucinations are where someone sees, hears, smells, tastes or feels things that do not exist outside their mind. The most common hallucination is hearing voices.
- Delusions. A delusion is a belief held with complete conviction, even though it's based on a mistaken, strange or unrealistic view. It may affect the way the person behaves.
- Confused thinking and speech. People experiencing psychosis often have trouble keeping track of their thoughts and conversations. Some people find it hard to concentrate and will drift from one idea to another.
- Negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The negative symptoms of schizophrenia can often appear several months or years before somebody experiences their first acute schizophrenic episode with symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations.
Jan 10, 2022 · Key facts. Schizophrenia causes psychosis and is associated with considerable disability and may affect all areas of life including personal, family, social, educational, and occupational functioning. Stigma, discrimination, and violation of human rights of people with schizophrenia are common.
Mental health. Mental illnesses and mental health problems. Schizophrenia. Buy. Print. Share. Email. This information is for anyone who thinks they may have schizophrenia, or has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. It's also for people who know someone with schizophrenia or just want to know more about the condition. Disclaimer.
