Individual Programmatic Assessment: Schizophrenia

Individual Programmatic Assessment: Disorder Paper Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects 2.4 million American adults over the age of 18. Although it affects men and women with equal frequency, schizophrenia most often appears in men in their late teens or early twenties, while it appears in women in their late twenties or early thirties (National Alliance on Mental Illness,2012). It is a chronic, brain disabling illness. Many people diagnosed with schizophrenia have difficulty deciphering fantasy from fiction. They sometimes cannot tell what is real and what is not. They have a hard time holding a job, or taking care of themselves, and often seek help for simple tasks. They do not always have normal emotional responses…show more content…
Treatments include antipsychotic medications and various psychosocial treatments (Dryden-Edwards, 2011). Antipsychotic medications have been available since the mid-1950's. The older types are called conventional or "typical" antipsychotics. There are really only two treatment methods in dealing with someone that has schizophrenia those methods are psychotherapy and/or medications. With the medication treatment the patient is giving antipsychotic drugs, is usually the most common in treating schizophrenia. Some of these medications include: Chlorpromazine (Thorazine), Haloperidol (Haldol), Perphenazine (Etrafon, Trilafon), Fluphenazine (Prolixin) and Risperdal (Dryden-Edwards, 2011). Although they seem to be effective in suppressing the disorder, sometimes the side effects can be worse than the disease itself. The antipsychotic drugs can sometimes leave patients in an almost “zombie-like” state, most common with Thorazine. It leaves the patient fairly lethargic, and sometimes can even heighten the original symptoms. These medications almost seem to sedate the patient rather than treat them. Although medical professionals tend to rely on these, stating their effectiveness, I beg to differ. I do not feel that rendering a patient almost emotionless would be a preferred treatment. It seems to me as though these medications are used as a last-ditch…show more content…
My nephew, Vincent, was diagnosed when he was 12-years-old as bi-polar, schizophrenic. He has had many issues with the disease. He was given different medications, the latest being Risperdal. He was on the medication for about five years, until he was 17-years-old. During these years, he was irritable, unsocial, and many times, almost unresponsive. If he did not get things that he wanted, his rage was well beyond that of a normal teenage temper tantrum. He would often be depressed, stating plans to harm himself, as well as have violent tendencies towards others. He lost himself in video games. He was raised by his aunt and grandmother who appeased him for the most part because that was the best way, to them, to keep him in control. He was very anti-social, preferring to spend time on Xbox, rather than interact with others outside. There were boys in the neighborhood his age, and although he spoke with a few, the conversations revolved around Xbox games. He felt as if his friends were the people he would interact with on the online games, and even tried to establish relationships from playing