Antipsychotic Summary

For most individuals with schizophrenia, a thorough treatment plan is vital to assist with medication adherence, reduce hospitalization and to provide improvement in quality of life. Typically a prescription for antipsychotics is necessary not only to reduce positive

Two of the ten studies investigate medications and the effectiveness on the outcome of the individuals studied. Green, Noordsy, Brunette, and O'Keefe (2008) studied theories related to schizophrenia and substance abuse. The authors discuss a number of theories that attempt to explain how the two are related. Although their study was not clear, the authors continue to recommend comprehensive treatment that includes psychosocial and medication treatment in an integrated fashion (Green et al.,

As we have seen, treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotic drugs can have impressive results in terms of decreasing active symptoms, although it does nothing to alleviate negative symptoms or to improve cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment has the drawback of extremely serious and even fatal side-effects. Newer generation atypical antipsychotics offer more hope, as they can treat both active and negative symptoms, and also improve cognitive functioning. Moreover, they have fewer side-effects. However, treatment is complicated by the fact that results are unpredictable; and in addition the side-effects that they do have can be very serious, such as diabetes, which in itself is life-threatening. However, as the potential side-effects are known, the physician has leeway to choose a drug which is a good match for the patient’s clinical profile. Then, once the patient’s symptoms have been much alleviated with an appropriate newer generation atypical antipsychotic, the patient should be able to also benefit from a range of psychotherapeutic interventions. It is argued that this is the best treatment regime to choose, as it is likely to result in the greatest improvement in quality of life, coupled with the lowest risk of potentially devastating side-effects, or of death. This is likely to be better than utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, the results of which are not reliably known – although research has certainly shown that it is less efficacious

The management of schizophrenia is complex and requires an “all-encompassing approach” which should be individualized to meet the needs of a particular patient (Schizophrenia Society of Canada, 2016, para. 5).

Schizophrenia has been defined as a biological disorder that affects an individual 's emotional, behavioral, and cognitive abilities. Recent reports state that nearly half of all individuals diagnosed with serious mental illnesses have not seeked out treatment. Those who are mindful of their illness do not consider treatment for many reasons, including the fact that 20 percent of individuals feel that it is “too expensive” (“Schizophrenia Facts & Statistics”). “The overall U.S. 2002 cost of schizophrenia... was estimated to be $62.7

Schizophrenia is a chronic, lifetime mental disorder that cannot be cured, but can be effectively treated and managed. Research conducted in developed countries revealed that about 20 to 35 percent of patients undergo a rapid improvement when treated. Approximately, 70 percent of the patients suffer a relapse of acute symptoms within the next 2 to 5 years after being discharged from hospital. The risk of relapse usually decreases 10 years after the initial onset.

The article was written by Frederick J. Frese III, Edward L. Knight and Elyn Saks; all trained professionals specialising in schizophrenia. This article focuses on schizophrenia and the history and evolution of treatments that have been used. It looks to shed

With any medication prescribed it is the duty of the prescriber an any mental health professional working directly with that client to provide them with as much psychoeducation as possible. It is vital that the client understands the benefits and risks of the medication. FUrthermore, it is vital for the client to understand that the client must be willing to commit to the process of finding the correct cocktail if you will.

Although there is controversy in regards to which type of treatment is most successful in regards to initial episodes of schizophrenia disorder, there are also studies looking into whether or not there are issues associated with receiving no treatment at all. Ho et al. (2003) created a study to determine the effect of a first episode of schizophrenia remaining undetected and untreated for more than one year. It was hypothesized by Ho et al. (2003) that if psychosis has toxicity to the human body, psychosis could have detrimental effects on cognitive functioning and the structure of the brain if left untreated. This study included 156 subjects, all who had not had more than three months of previous antipsychotic treatment and all of which were in the midst of their first episode of schizophrenia. The mean amount of time in which the participants went untreated for psychotic symptoms at the beginning of the experiment was 74.3 weeks. Ho et al. (2003) stated that participants were put through a battery of thirty six cognitive tests in which their scores were scored against other standardized scores. The participants were divided into two groups around the median amount of time in which they were untreated since the onset of their symptoms, which was thirteen weeks (Ho et al., 2003). Neurocognitive tests included tests of verbal, memory and motor skills. Ho et al. (2003) stated that in comparison to each other, the two groups did not differ in any of the cognitive categories

The use of illicit substances has become increasing common in schizophrenia (Asher & Gask, 2010). Illicit substance use by persons with a diagnosis of schizophrenia has long been associated with increased severity of psychosis, psychiatric hospital inpatient admissions, higher rates of readmission and poor treatment outcomes (Asher & Gask, 2010; Charles & Weaver, 2010; Hambrecht & Hafner, 1996; Swofford, Kasckow, Scheller-Gilkey & Inderbitzin, 1996). It has also been acknowledged that persons diagnosed with schizophrenia are more likely to use illicit substances within their lifetime than the general population, with rates of comorbid substance use fluctuating from 15 to 65% in persons diagnosed with schizophrenia (Charles & Weaver, 2010; Malchow et al, 2012). So

Schizophrenia is a life-long disorder that affects about one percent of the population (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). The cause of this mental illness is still unclear. Studies have suggested that Schizophrenia does not arise from one factor but from a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors (Liddle, 1987). People diagnosed with Schizophrenia struggle to deal with a multitude of symptoms that make it difficult to function (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Antipsychotic medications are a popular treatment of the symptoms of Schizophrenia (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Research is constantly being done to develop these medications to enhance the quality of life of those diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

Clearly, this is a very serious disorder, which is often utterly incapacitating. Therefore, individuals urgently require efficacious treatment, both for survival and for quality of life, and many different kinds of treatment and therapy are used. This paper will examine the use of two of these, cognitive behavioral therapy and drug therapy, and evaluate which one is better. It will take the position that drug therapy is a more effective therapy for treating schizophrenia than is cognitive behavioral therapy.

Schizophrenia is often times referred to as one of the most devastating mental illness. This is because of it early onset in a patients live, and also that the symptoms can be destructive not only to the patient but also their family and friends. Schizophrenia is often discussed as a single illness, but schizophrenia can include a wide array of disorders which can present many similar behavioral symptoms. More than likely schizophrenia comprises a whole group of disorders with heterogeneous causes which include those patients whose clinical presentations, responses, treatment and course of their illnesses were varied. It’s not only one of the most devastating mental illness but is also one of the most financially taxing; This is because, The according to a study conducted the overall U.S. 2002 cost of schizophrenia (The Economic Burden of Schizophrenia in the United States in 2002, J Clin Psychiatry. 2005 Sep;66(9):1122-1129) was estimated to be $62.7 billion, with $22.7 billion excess direct health care cost this breaks down to for $7.0 billion outpatient, $5.0 billion drugs, $2.8 billion inpatient, $8.0 billion long-term care (Analysis Group, Inc. 2014).

The topic chosen for the POI is readmission rate of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia that is nonadherent to medication, an issue that remains a problem in healthcare today. Since there is a direct relationship between rate of admission and poor compliance to antipsychotic medications (Busch et at., 2015), reviewing how frequently they are hospitalized is a great way to indicate their prognosis (Emsley, Nuyamah, hough, & Gopal, 2012). The reason for selecting this particular phenomenon of interest was to grasp a better understanding of the leading contributor that cause rehospitalization to occur frequently and explore how it impacts the patient’s mental health status and healthcare (i.e. medical cost). Schennach et al., (2012) states that 52% of patients will relapse within their first year of being discharged from treatment while Chi et al. (2016) report it as high as 60-70%.

The article “Factors associated with antipsychotic medication adherence in community-based patients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong: A cross sectional study.” Tries to identify some of the reasons for people to have trouble with medication compliance. The study was conducted in Hong Kong in patient’s homes during doctor visits. Researchers started by screening 800 patients for the research.