Early Intervention Of Psychosis : A New Paradigm

Every child in the study reported auditory hallucinations, which seems to be the main hallucination surrounding childhood Schizophrenia. These hallucinations were usually some sort of command, given to them by a wide range of sources, such as animals, people they actually know, fictional characters, malevolent forces, or people they have made up. Visual hallucinations were less prominent than auditory hallucinations, but still apparent in over 50 percent of the children. Tactile hallucinations were reported in only 25 percent of the children. These hallucinations were comparable to those that young adults with Schizophrenia experience, but were much less complex and only lasted between one week and one and a half years.

PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS Psychotic disorders are a collection of disorders in which psychosis predominates the symptom complex. Psychosis is defined as a gross impairment in reality testing. Specific psychotic symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, ideas of reference, and disorders of thought Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV)

Schizophrenia is a complex psychotic disorder evident by impaired thinking, emotions, judgment and behaviors. The person’s grasp of reality may be so disordered that they are unable to filter sensory stimuli and may have intense perceptions of sounds, colors, and other features of their environment. Although there are different levels of severity in symptoms, the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine (Fundukian, Ed., 2014) states that schizophrenia may typically interfere with a person 's ability to think clearly and to know the difference between reality and fantasy. People with schizophrenic symptoms have hallucinations and delusions, and often have difficulty with everyday life. It is a complicated disease that is not well understood and carries significant stigma for its sufferers.

Most families opt not to involve themselves because of the negative stigma of having a family member with schizophrenia. In addition to this there are many factors that affects attending family intervention due to work hours, lack of time, and transportation considerations and other outside factors (Bleecher, 2009 p 264). Although attending intervention can be very lengthy and time consuming family psychoeducation reduces a great percentage of hospitalizations. Overall, families who involve themselves have an overall better outcome for both the family and the ill member because they are helping the child’s social and emotional health (Bleecher, 2009). The effectiveness of family involvement of individuals with schizophrenia in both individual and family outcomes has been established is as an evidence based practice in the mental health field. There is a need for greater understanding of the barriers to involving families in order to move toward the eventual goal of increased practitioner and family collaboration. Although, there is no sufficient data that can prove this aside from a number of case studies further research must be done.

Early intervention services have relied on research with adult participants as young people who are at risk are often not diagnosed and are excluded from research (Addington & Mancusco 2009). The first study seeks to conduct research with young people to inform clinical practice. Recruitment to the first study took the form of the Symptom Approach as advocated by Bentall (1990) who criticises Diagnosis-led research which seeks to find homogeneous interventions for heterogeneous schizophrenia groups. The aims of the

The cognitive explanation acknowledges the role of biological factors in schizophrenia, suggesting that the basis of the condition is abnormal brain activity producing visual and auditory hallucinations. Further features of the disorder emerge as people try to make sense of the hallucinations.

Earley highlights this with his son as he leaves the hospital system and is processed through the judicial system. The next responsibility is to understand where we are in a system and where we need to go. The book portrayed Mike, Earley’s son, could not be hospitalized unless he voluntarily committed himself or verbalized harm towards himself or others. It was clear to Earley, who knew his son’s baseline, was deescalating further into psychosis. The situation explains how we can get assistance for clients who may not be able to make adequate decisions in a psychotic episode. Lastly, the clinician should develop a strategic plan of how to achieve the desired results, and the key participants involved. Earley researched the systems involved for over a year before he concluded writing a book would reach the vast of persons involved. He interviewed and studied the systems involved to strategically plan how he could assist his son.

Evaluation and treatment of the mentally ill population has developed from confinement of the mad during colonial times, into the biomedical balancing of neurological impairment seen in these modern times. There were eras of mental health reform, medicalization, and deinstitutionalization sandwiched in between (Nies & McEwen, 2011). Regardless of the stage of understanding and development, communities have not been completely successful in dealing with and treating persons who are mentally unwell. Fortunately, treatment has become more compassionate; social and professional attitudes have morphed into more humanistic and

As responsible advocates for the health and well-being of our clients, it is pertinent for counselors to remain knowledgeable of the warning signs for potentially dangerous behavior. This awareness pertains to clients who have yet to be prescribed medication for psychosis of a diagnosed disorder, as well as the side effects elicited from antipsychotic pharmaceutical interventions. When the signs have been validated, it is imperative for the morally ethical and competent counselor to take the appropriate actions on behalf of the client in order to prevent harm from ensuing. In this paper, I will attempt to identify and explain the presenting signs of danger by examining the case of Junior, a 14 year-old

Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by distorted thinking, impaired emotional responses, poor interpersonal skills and a distortion of reality. It is the most common of psychotic disorders that, in most countries around the world, affects around 1 per cent of the population. In terms of explanations for the disorder, two central types of explanations arise – psychological explanations and biological explanations. Whereas psychological explanations tend to focus on cognitive, emotional and environmental factors that may cause the disorder, biological explanations tend to focus on genetic, biochemical and neuro-anatomical factors as the cause of the

The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI, 2015) estimates 1 in 5- 48.8- million adults in the United States are diagnosed with a mental illness each year. Amongst adolescents and children, it is estimated 1 in 5 youth ages 13-18-(21.4%) have, or will have a serious mental illness every year (NAMI, 2015). For children ages 8-15 the prevalence of experiencing a serious mental illness at one point in their life is 13% (NAMI, 2015). Although, children and adolescents are most commonly diagnosed with mood, conduct and anxiety disorders, there are those who occasionally experience psychotic disorders such as early onset schizophrenia.

Childhood schizophrenia makes the child lose touch with reality (psychosis). When the child loses psychosis he or she may have one or all of the following signs and symptoms of

cause an ongoing loss of contact with reality. Other mental health conditions that may sometimes

The psychodynamic explanation of the psychological viewpoint is based upon Freud’s theory that schizophrenia develops from two psychological processes: regression to a pre-ego stage and efforts to reestablish ego control (Comer, 2005). Freud believed that symptoms

There are four kinds of schizophrenia, including paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Causes are not clear, and biological, psychological and environment factors are being investigated. It is certain that there is a genetic component. (Passer and Smith, 2004)