Symptoms And Treatments Of Early Onset Psychosis

Schizophrenia is a unique disease in its pathophysiology. For their early lives, patients appear healthy. However, symptoms begin to appear during adolescence or early adulthood and may be triggered by changes in the brain during puberty. The first signs of the illness include anxiety, depression, changes in friends, sleep problems, irritability, dropping grades, and having trouble concentrating (Picchioni and Murray, 2007; National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)). Delusions and hallucinations typically begin between the ages of 16 and 30 (NIMH).

Schizophrenia occurs in people from all cultures and from all walks of life. Schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder that affects a small portion of the population in the world. When schizophrenia is active there are many different symptoms that can appear. Some symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration, and lack of motivation. When these symptoms are treated, most people with schizophrenia will improve over time with treatment. With the different studies we are able to see how schizophrenia works in different ways. The different ways being what is happening in the brain when a person has schizophrenia. Along with the different treatments from counseling to medication what works better.

The peak age at onset for the first psychotic episode is the early- to mid-20s for males, as Martin’s case. The onset may be abrupt or insidious, but most people manifest a slow and gradual development of a variety of clinically significant signs and symptoms. The effect of age at onset is likely related to gender, with males having worse premorbid adjustment, lower educational achievement, more prominent negative symptoms and cognitive impairment, and in general a worse outcome.

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

Medications are a necessity in dealing with this illness. Anti-psychotics are predominant in the copious amounts of prescriptions that are written for the diagnosed. My experience in the school setting, summer proves to be a season for change as parents use this time to stop or change dosages of medications without doctor advice or approval. Although “regular classes” are not in session, summer school classes can be faced as a challenge when necessary medications have not been taken. I have learned at my practicum site, adult patients in the clinic have taken to self-medicating, adding in marijuana and other street drugs, either in addition or instead of the doctor prescribed medications. Removing one or more drugs from the cocktail that the doctor prescribed can create a windfall of problems for the patients. In stopping and restarting anti-psychotic medication, the patient runs the risk of relapse of symptoms, sometimes worse than they were

It is imperative to seek treatment for children or adolescents who present with the onset of serious mental illness. Early-onset of illness is a high prediction of poor outcomes for the patient. Severe mental illness diagnoses include schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. The schizophrenia spectrum includes schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder and xxxx. The diagnoses fall into xxx categories; xxx, xxxx and xxx. Early onset of schizophrenia (EOS) before the age of 13, is very rare at 0.04 % of population in the United States. EOS is before the age of 18, 0.5% of U.S. population. Children and adolescents make up xxx of the psychiatric patient in the United States. The DSM-5

There are so many different kinds of medications used to treat patients, but the most common ones that psychiatric assistants prescribe exist as antipsychotic and antidepressants. Antidepressants usually relate to a substance that treats mood disorders. Antipsychotic medications usually are taken daily in pills or liquid form. However, some may get injected, which means their only given once or twice a month. The biggest mental disorder that antipsychotic are prescribed for has occurred in patients with schizophrenia. “Schizophrenia is a psychosis characterized by delusions, hallucinations, apathy, and a “split” between thought and emotion.” (Coon & Mitterer 487) “Patients with this disorder tend to have withdrawal from contact with other, a loss of interest in external activities, a breakdown of personal habits, and an inability to deal with daily events.” (486) “Also, it is hard for patients with schizophrenia to focus on one item of information at a time.” (486) Four major types of schizophrenia consist of catatonic, disorganized, paranoid, and undifferentiated. The first type, catatonic, involves disturbances in a person’s movement. Patients with this disorder type tend to just sit there and they do not talk or move. They show no emotion. “The second type, disorganized, or known as “hebephrenic schizophrenia”, patients experience bizarre thinking and flat or grossly inappropriate emotions.” (487) “Typically, this type of schizophrenia develops in adolescence or young adulthood.” (487) “The third type, paranoid, is marked by a preoccupation with delusions or by frequent auditory hallucinations related to a single theme, especially grandeur or persecution.” (488) “Patients think that God, the government, or “cosmic rays from space” are controlling their minds or trying to poison them.” (488) “According to the largest study ever

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

Psychosis is a mental illness that may be related to other mental health issues. This condition is triggered by drugs of abuse, alcoholism and several disease conditions. This suggest that numerous pathological devices within the brain are shared by individuals affected by these conditions. One of the pathological features of psychosis is hallucination which may involve seeing, hearing, smelling or tasting something that is not present. Another pathological feature is delusional thinking or believing something that is not real or true. Delusions may manifest and display in two forms, paranoid delusions or delusions of grandeur.

Therapy for psychosis often works best when combined with medication, although this is not always

One main preventative measure in the treatment of psychosis in children is to identify those who are at risk, looking at family history, environment those children are living in, and symptoms already expressing. Early prevention and treatment for these children and family members with help in the long run with stress control on all parties involved. Other preventative measures include better prenatal care, vaccinations for mothers who are expecting to become pregnant or already are, in order to cut down on

The disorder/disease we studied is known today as schizophrenia. It is a mental disorder whose most infamous symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, and fractured thinking. It is thought to be caused by a mixture of genetic and environmental factors, and usually appears for most people in their late teens or early twenties. Because it surfaces quite early in life, it was misnamed “dementia praecox”, meaning early dementia, when it started being more closely researched in the early twentieth century. Schizophrenia is not a type of dementia, or the same as bipolar disorder. Current research still focuses on what the disorder actually is, like what causes it, rather than developing more effective treatments. However, there are already treatments available, like antipsychotics, that allow some schizophrenics to live normally.

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

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.

Psychosis is a symptom included in many psychological diseases. In the premature stages of psychoses, it is problematic to diagnose the patient with a specific type of psychosis.