Question:
Would this be like believing in ear implants? A secret installation under the Great Lakes? Believing that every government agency is hiding information from you?
Answer:
A person who suffers from schizophrenia will battle the brain disease for a lifetime. There is no cure, only treatment.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 1
percent of the world population suffers from schizophrenia in any given
year.
That means more than 2 million people in the United States are afflicted.
And Flagstaff, with a population of approximately 56,000, would
statistically have approximately 560 people suffering from schizophrenia.
The disease affects men and women equally. But the disease shows up in men
earlier than women -- typically between the ages of 16 to 25 for men and
20 to 30 for women.
The causes of schizophrenia are not known, but nearly three decades of
research into the disease points toward a combination of genetic and
behavioral factors, among others. Some studies are focusing on
abnormalities as well as chemical defects in the brain.
Among the symptoms of Schizophrenia are: Delusions -- These are thoughts
that are not real. For instance, paranoid delusions are when a person
thinks everyone is out to harm them, even loved ones. Distorted thinking
-- This is an inability to think straight, or make sense out of the events
going on around the sufferer.
Hallucinations -- This is hearing or seeing things that are not real. As
many as 75 percent of sufferers hear voices at some point. Emotionlessness
-- This is when a sufferer loses the ability to express emotions.
For people to be diagnosed schizophrenic, they must show at least two
different types of symptoms over a six-month period of time.
When sufferers begin to show symptoms, their behavior changes
dramatically. Once outgoing and personable, they may become emotionless
and antisocial.
Other warning signs that a person may be suffering from schiophrenia
include:
Poor personal hygiene
Depression
Rigid stubbornness
Dropping out of activities
Drug or alcohol abuse
Unexpected hostility
Bizarre behavior
Decline in academic or athletic interests
Inappropriate response
Advocates for the treatment of schizophrenia stress that it takes a
licensed physician to distinguish between the disease and teen growing
pains or drug and alcohol abuse.
The disease cannot be cured, but it can be treated with medication and
other nonmedication treatments, like self-help groups and counseling to
help a sufferer cope with the disease.
Medication will not prevent the disease from reappearing, although
medication can keep the symptoms from being less severe. Yet, even taking
medications are not a guarantee that a sufferer will not have a severe
relapse.
Relapse rates are much higher when the medications are not used, or
discontinued. Sufferers of schizophrenia often refuse to accept the fact
that they have an illness and refuse to take medications, or discontinue
them when they begin to feel better.
"It is critical that people with schizophrenia stay in treatment even
after recovering from an acute episode," states information from the
Arlington, Va.-based Treatment Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization
working to eliminate barriers to treatment of severe mental illness.
Approximately 80 percent of sufferers who stop taking medication will have
a relapse with a year. But even if sufferers do stay on medications, there
is still a 30 percent chance they will suffer a relapse in a year.
For detailed information about schizophrenia and treatment of
schizophrenia, visit the HealthyPlace.com Thought Disorders Community
top ~ articles table of contents
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Thought_Disorders/schizo/arti... Wonder what age Barbara Schwarz was when the delusions started? If
she was only 24 or so, that might explain the apparent 5:00 shadow
from her picture in the newspaper. Wow! Honest to god research! The cult of $cientology could learn
from that. Unfortunately for the clams, Mo Ron Hubbard's research
amounted to getting drunk and passing out. My niece was brain damaged in a car accident when she was 15. She
exhibits all the symptoms, even the hallucinations.........saying such
things as she took cocaine in kindergarten and that she's a 1000 years
old. She also becomes violent for no reason at all, won't take a bath,
lives on cigarettes and coffee and eats food she finds in dumpsters.
COS keep spouting people are spiritual beings.....well the body and the
brain can affect the spirit and sometimes mediction is needed. There is
now research that suggests that fish or fish oil may replace Prozac for
some people with depression and maybe even in treating "schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder, and violent behavior."
Preliminary studies suggest 1 gram a day of omega-3 fatty acids can be
an effective treatment, whether in the form of a nutritional supplement
available at most health-food stores or simply by eating fish —
especially salmon, sardines or tuna — several times a week.
Researchers say much larger studies are now needed to follow up on the
initial success of omega-3 trials, not only against depression but also
in treating schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and violent behavior.
Well, then, it's heartening to know that even Barbara Schwarz could be
helped, if only she could realize that she has this problem.
