Schizophrenia Treatment Using Psychotherapy!

In the previous article we have seen the most common treatment for schizophrenia “antipsychotics” which are medications used to relief the symptoms but they do not cure the illness. In this article we are going to discuss other options that could be used combined with medications to get a better result or in case the patient does not respond to the antipsychotic drugs. So let’s take a look at each type!

Psychotherapy : psychotherapy is a very powerful tool in the procedure of schizophrenia treatment, because antipsychotic drugs do not cure this mental disorder, however, it just helps relieve the symptoms related to the disorder, so an additional option seems to be necessary.

Psychotherapy is very effective and its role appears to be so important in helping people with schizophrenia manage and control this mental disorder. It has been found that the use of psychotherapy combined with medications is the best way to overcome the illness by learning how to control the symptoms and identify the warning signs of a relapse also it helps the patient cope with many psychological, social and behavioral problems related to schizophrenia.
  
There are many effective therapies to help people with the illness include:

1. Individual psychotherapy: this therapy is highly recommended for the schizophrenic patients, it involves sessions on a regular basis in which the patient need to talk about everything his past, problems, feelings, thoughts and all the little things that would be the root of the problem.

The therapist role is to help the patient understand the illness and better control his or her daily life problems by learning some solving skills. The patient has to learn some techniques and exercises to better recognize reality, organize their thoughts and make a difference between what is real and what is delusional.

This therapy is so beneficial and it has shown many improvements for the lives of the sufferers.

2. Rehabilitation: rehabilitation is one of the most common therapies in the United States, its purpose is to make the schizophrenic patient able to earn his or her living, function properly in the society and be independent and self sufficient.

This therapy focuses on job training, social skills improvement, problem solving support and money management.

There are many rehabilitations centers in the United States that provides high quality services such as Anne Sippi clinics in Los Angeles, Hanblacey in San Diego and many other centers.

3. Family therapy: it is very important that the family and friends of the schizophrenic patient learn about this mental illness and fully understand its circumstances in order to provide care, love and deal effectively with him or her.

Researchers have shown that people with schizophrenia surrounded by a loving family or friends feel much better and improve quickly compared to those who are suffering in silence and fighting alone or living with a careless family. So it is necessary for the family members to take care of their loved one and checking if he or she is taking the medications regularly and also avoid any type of sarcasm that might be very hurtful.

4. Group therapy: this kind of therapy is very common, it provides the support the patient needs by sharing experiences with other people with schizophrenia. Also the person will not feel like he is the only one suffering from this mental disorder which will make him or her improve his situation.

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