Below is what Schizophrenia can feel like. It’s important to note that severity differs between individuals, and everyone’s experiences are unique.
Paranoia. You’re not worried your co-workers are plotting to kill you. You know your co-workers are plotting to kill you. Even If there’s someplace inside you that knows it’s part of the condition, you can’t shake the certainty. For anyone without this disorder, imagine feeling like everyone is trying to harm or kill you, literally. Think about what kind of fear you’d live with every day.
Delusions. The songs on the radio are always about what you did recently and contain veiled messages, sometimes threats. The celebrities on TV and Youtube talk about you without speaking your name. There’s significance in everything around you and it all ties together. You always feel like you’re on the brink of figuring it all out. You don’t know why so many people obsess over you, or why everyone around you is ‘in on it’ and lying about what they see. But you’re always so close to understanding why you were chosen and what everyone wants you to do. Your mind will come up with people and scenarios that aren’t real, but these circulate in your head so often you begin thinking that a person is real, or that something actually happened. It makes it difficult to tell reality from fiction.
Hallucinations. The voices can be hushed and whisper things that you can’t make sense of, but sometimes it gets so loud that you can’t focus on anything and you feel detached. Oftentimes, they’re pretty negative, telling you you’re stupid, worthless, that nobody likes you, that everything you do is pointless. It’s having every insecurity about yourself constantly ringing in your ears. This makes having healthy self-esteem quite difficult.
Fear. You feel nothing and everything. Like you always have to watch your back and always have to be alert. It’s your greatest fear and no matter what you do, no matter what anyone says, you know in your head and heart that it will come to you and your fear will be realized. You feel this every day.
These are just some of the symptoms and experiences that our patients go through. Schizophrenia is a serious, debilitating affliction to live with. Most people hear the stories of failure, but there are plenty of successes. It’s not easy to control this disease. There are ups and downs and battles waged in the course of this condition. But it is possible to become stable and have relationships. We understand the disorder and what you’re experiencing. Everyone has a varying level of severity and differing symptoms. Our treatment will be individualized to you and aim to give you back your life.
Treatment of Schizophrenia at Khushi Mind Care includes :
A) Assessment :
Psychological assessments :
1.PANSS( Positive & Negative Symptom Scale of Schizophrenia)
2.BPRS( Brief Psychotic Rating Scale)
Projective Tests Like :
1. Rorschach test
2. Thematic Apperception test
B) Medication:
Antipsychotic medications are medicines that act upon neurochemicals targeting both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. They help improve the way your brain uses certain chemicals that control thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
Antipsychotic medications take time – usually 1 to 2 weeks – to work, and often, symptoms such as sleep, fearfulness, aggression, improve before thought process stabilizes.
Medication duration depends on multiple factors like number and types of episodes, total duration of illness, genetic loading, comorbid habit use etc and is hence best decided by the treating doctor. Do not stop taking medication without the help of a doctor.
C) Therapy/Counseling :
1. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) – methods to learn to cope with residual delusions and hallucinations(voices)
2. Family therapy – generating awareness in family about psychosis promotes supportive environment aiding recovery.
3. Insight Oriented Psychotherapy- teaching patient’s about their illness, differentiating between what is real and what is not.
4. Interpersonal therapy (IPT) – centers on resolving interpersonal problems and aiding recovery.
5. Social Rhythm Therapy – to develop normal sleep schedule and predictable daily routines.
6. Social Skills training – focused on improving social skills.
