Psychosis Case Studies

The introduction of antipsychotic medications has helped people with schizophrenia to control the hallucinations, delusions, and other positive symptoms of psychosis, which has made it possible for many individuals to live in the

Antipsychotics are medications that physicians use to treat psychotic disorders such as Schizophrenia, Delusional disorder, Paraphrenia, and Substance-induced psychotic disorders. These disorders are characterised by the patient’s inability to make good judgments, think with a clear head, communicate effectively, relate to society, and understand reality. Antipsychotic drugs are also useful in the treatment of bipolar conditions that involve extreme cases of manic behaviour. Examples of these drugs include Thorazine and Trilafon. These drugs belong to a drug class called phenothiazines. They work by changing the actions of chemicals in the brain. The drugs can be beneficial, however, Steen et al. (2014) argue that the medicines have several harmful effects such as changes

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 treatment of schizophrenia varies. Many patients are treated with drug. Current treatment modalities are somatic and psychotherapeutic which were performed in many different ways that associates with drug treatment. The somatic treatments for schizophrenia are all based on drug therapy and pharmacology (de Meduna). Of course, there have been previous approaches of treatment. Psychosurgery, which had been rejected, includes electro convulsive therapies, insulin coma, and various treatment that involved immersion in hot or cold baths. The pharmacological therapies currently applied all have scientific proof of their effectiveness, although the results of these studies have also provided that when drugs are stopped, relapse may occur

I learnt that using anti-psychotics is just a component of a holistic approach to a patient with psychotic illness and that care should also include psychological treatments

As with any disorder or sickness patients have various treatment options available to them. It’s always in the best interest of the patient to seek treatment advice from a Mental healthcare professional who has experience on schizophrenia disorder, and who can server the patient effectively. Patients who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia should look into all options available to them before choosing one treatment option in order to experience the best pathway back to a healthy life. Some of the more popular treatment options to help relive symptoms of schizophrenia have been either antipsychotic medications such as Chlorpromazine, haloperidol (haldol), perphenazine (Etafon, Trilafon), and Fluphenazine. Although medications are more common and been around for centuries other treatment options can also provide a more long-term treatment plan with positive outcomes. According to the NIMH antipsychotic medications have been around since the mid 1950’s (2014).

Medication has been the most successful treatment by far. Antipsychotic drugs do little for helping the patient understand and deal with various aspects of their illness. Because of this, psychotherapy is absolutely necessary along with medication. Alarmingly, a recent study shows that only a third of schizophrenia patients are getting the correct

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.

Schizophrenia treatment has developed to have two specific classes of drugs, typical antipsychotics and atypical antipsychotics. Typical antipsychotics were the first type of drugs to be used on schizophrenia patients. They are also known as the ‘first-generation’ drugs. Atypical antipsychotics, or ‘second-generation’ drugs are newer drugs that are now often used in replacement of the ‘first-generation’ drugs. However this progression of drug treatment for schizophrenia patients has shown little change in effectiveness as studies were unable to find distinct difference. The only real difference between the two can be seen in their prices and side effects. Although, the typical antipsychotics have now tapped into the fast-growing generic drug

One tool that doctors have recommended to schizophrenic patients for many years is antipsychotic medications. While this form of treatment has proven to be somewhat effective for some patients, the side effects can be unpredictable. They can range from shortness of breath and weariness to loss of muscle control and tremors. The National Institute of Mental Health recognized this issue and conducted a survey with about 400 schizophrenic patients to determine if there were any other forms of treatment that could be more effective than medication. They split participants into two groups with one being the normal medication-focused treatment and the other being a therapy and family-focused care. The researchers kept the medications on group two as low as possible, and found that this did not negatively affect the patients. The participants in group two actually made greater leaps in recovery in comparison to group one. This was all due to the fact that group two people were given the tools to cope with and address their issues instead of just masking them with medication.

The patient is a 33 year old female who presented to the ED with acute psychosis. Before the assessment the patient paranoia escalated, however she was stabilized and has been since. At the time of the assessment she appear to be calm, however answers minimal questions. Mrs. Luvianos Bringas was brought in by her family 12/10/16 for presecutory delusions, visual hallucinations, and unspecified delusions. Mrs .Luvianos answers a few questions by shacking her head. She current denies suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, and symptoms of psychosis. Per documentation she believes her husband is trying to kill her. She states in MCM documentation they were trying to kill her because they were wearing different colors, red, black, and pink. She

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness and safety issues surrounding pharmacological and psychological interventions as treatments for psychosis and schizophrenia in children, adolescents, and young adults. This study contrasted different medications and their impacts on patient outcomes - both positive and negative. Furthermore, head-to-head comparisons between medications were made; highlighting which medications had better significant impacts on patients. Also, contrasting psychological interventions taking in to consideration the benefits of family and individual cognitive behavioural therapy were examined in this study.

There are no known treatments for schizophrenia, but there are many treatments for the symptoms of the mental disorder. One of the treatments is called antipsychotics. Some examples of antipsychotic are chlorpromazine, haloperidol, perphenazine, fluphenazine, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, ziprasidone, aripiprazole, paliperidone, and lurasidone. Antipsychotics are a type of medication that treats a person that has delusion and hallucinations. This medication is very effective because after taking it for a few days, the patient will not have hallucinations anymore and the delusions will go away in a few weeks. Even though, antipsychotics will cause the hallucinations and delusions go away, there are many side effects. Some of these side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, restlessness, weight gain, constipation, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, low blood pressure, weaker immune system, involuntary (awkward) movements, thirstiness, and rigidity. Long term use of this medication can cause tardive dyskinesia which causes involuntary mouth movements.

The antipsychotic medications are recommended as pharmacological interventions to treat psychotic episode in psychosis and schizophrenia (NICE 2014). They may be classified as atypical and typical antipsychotics (Meltzer 2013). The atypical drugs refer to as the newer generation of antipsychotics which may have less extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) compared to the typical antipsychotics, also known as the first generation of antipsychotics (Meltzer 2013). Both types of antipsychotic drugs are utilised therapeutically to manage positive, negative, and other symptoms of psychosis and schizophrenia.

One of the biggest issues about prescribing children with psychiatric drugs is that the long-term effects of these drugs are yet to be discovered. Most of the mentioned drugs are second generation anti-psychotic medications. In contrast to first generation drugs, most of the second-generation drugs have been found recently. Therefore, although they are known to be less dangerous than first-generation drugs, their long-term side effects have not been explored thoroughly. In other words, when it comes to second-generation drugs, a sense of cluelessness rules the world of psychiatry. According to Consumer Reports, studies on how effective these drugs are, and whether they have long term effects or not have involved fewer than 3,000 children in