Symptoms Of Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder

Covers, C. (2009). Second-generation versus first-generation antipsychotic drugs for Schizophrenia. Retrieved March 16, 2011 from

Bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness that is characterized by changes in mood. It can lead to risky behavior, damage relationships and careers, and even suicidal outcomes if it’s not treated. Bipolar disorder is more common in older teenagers and young adults, it can affect children as young as 6. Women experience more periods of depression than men. More remains to be learned about this condition that affects millions of people.

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

Atypical antipsychotics – e.g. risperidone. Some atypical also block serotonin receptors. schizophrenia and its onset are discussed on the basis of the biopsychosocial model. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness “that causes people to lose contact with reality” The core concept of biopsychosocial model is that abnormal behavior and mental disorder can be understood and treated more completely if considerations are given to the biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of a person’s problem rather than only one of them. Based on this model, the biopsychosocial theories have been developed to study mental disorder including schizophrenia.

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

Within mental health and illness there is a vast amount of treatment options, medications and interventions to treat numerous psychotic disorders. A somewhat controversial treatment within the mental health field, known as long acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIAs), will be discussed in this argumentative paper. Evidence will be presented on how effective LAIA medication is, when compared to oral forms of antipsychotic medication, and the strengths and limitations of administering them. Perceptions of LAIAs from the view of nurses, health professionals and consumers, as well as the nurse’s role in administering and promoting recovery orientated care for people with a mental illness will also be covered. This essay will not provide a clear view, for or against LAIAs, but rather support both positives and negatives of the use of this medication within the mental health field.

The introduction of Clozapine, marked a turning point in the treatment of schizophrenia, as the first "atypical" antipsychotic drug lacking the propensity to produce ‘extra-pyramidal symptoms’ (associated with the older antipsychotic agents) (Kane et al. 1988). Even though, Clozapine has not conclusively demonstrated its significantly superior record or efficacy for psychosis (Gardner et al. 2005), it has proven exceptional effectiveness, compared to other more traditional antipsychotics (Claghorn et al. 1987). However, Kane et al. (1988) and others have concluded, 30–60% of all schizophrenic patients who fail to respond to typical antipsychotics may respond therapeutically/effectively to Clozapine (Breier et al. (1994) & Iqbal et al. (2003)). This is especially apparent for refractory schizophrenia (Kane et al. 1988), treatment-resistant schizoaffective disorders (Zarate et al. 1995) and aggression (Cohen & Underwood, 1994).

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized with severe, chronic, and potentially disabling thought disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Antipsychotic drugs are the primary use of treatment for schizophrenic disorders (Kane, 1987). Some of the common used psychotropic medications used to treat schizophrenia are: haloperidol, risperidone, aripiprazole, olanzapine, trifluoperazine, perphenazine, quetiapine, thioridazine, chlorpromazine, and clozapine. Antipsychotics like FGAs and SGAs are can be administered orally, in the form of a pill or liquid, or intravenously, by injections. Like with oral forms of antipsychotics, injections offer side effects too. These side effects vary but are very much alike to those of the matching drugs in oral form, though added mild or infrequent injection-related side effects can occur such as: pain, skin thickening, and nodules (Haddad & Fleischhacker, 2011). Antipsychotics administered by injection is one approach to managing nonadherence, although this approach does not work for all patients. Additionally, a proportion of patients who start on injections, later, do not continue with treatment. One study found more than half of patients who began risperidone (Risperdal) injections, stopped after 6 months of treatment (Taylor et al., 2004). With injections, patient nonadherence can be due to the personal characteristics, dosage range, initial startup, administration of the drug, and monitoring. The dosage range for each

Antipsychotic – Psychotropic drugs are often used for neurochemical problems, behavioral problems, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders. These drugs sometimes cause side effects

Medication is the foundation on which treatment of schizophrenia is based. Oftentimes, medication is combined with one or several types of psychotherapy to help the patient deal with their illness the best that they can. Antipsychotics are the most common and most effective type of medication used to treat schizophrenic patients. They are “effective in suppressing specific positive symptoms of psychosis such as hallucinations, delusions, and thought disturbance” which is why they are the most popular type of medication for schizophrenic patients (Shean, p.140). The main goal of antipsychotics is to effectively control symptoms at the lowest dosage possible. This type of medication

The cases of diagnosed Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder have been on the rise for the past several years. Since these diseases are hereditarily linked, the rise of childhood onset Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder has also had increased diagnosed cases. Through new medical research and availability of new treatments and medication, scientists and doctors are now uncovering new reasons as to why these mental diseases are on the come up. Human studies administered by various research facilities also conducted examinations on the brain activity and chemical balances to understand the impact of cranial functionality.

"Bipolar disorder can also be referred to as manic-depressive illness." (NIMH 1) It is a brain disorder which causes a drastic change in an individual 's behavior, mood, activity levels, and their ability to complete everyday tasks. Before we talk about the aspects of the disorder, we need to understand two important definitions. "One being a 'manic episode ' which is a period of abnormal and persistent elevated, irritable mood that lasts at least a week. This episode must cause noticeable difficulty at work, school, social activities, or relationships. The other definition being 'hypomanic episode ' which is a period of abnormal and persistent elevated, irritable mood that lasts at least four days. During this episode, changes are

Antipsychotic agents are the most commonly used treatments for schizophrenia. However, more than two-thirds of patients suspended antipsychotic treatment in 18 months. [8] Although the drug is unlikely to be due to various factors in patients with schizophrenia, not all of these factors are a problem, such as negative attitude towards drugs. There was a questionnaire consisted of six questions about adverse events. The first question is whether the patient was suffering from any adverse events. The last question aimed to check whether the patient's reaction and other adverse events tolerated a specific or let them have changed their medicine. Multiple answers were about he patients’ toleration of the cause of specific symptoms. The

Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental illness, and is characterized by alternating between elevated moods such as mania or the milder condition hypomania and periods of depression. Bipolar disorder often shows during late teens or early adult years. At least half of all cases start before the age of 25. Some people experience symptoms during childhood, while others might develop symptoms late in life ("Bipolar Disorder in Adults"). The purpose of the study was to investigate if quetiapine monotheraphy is an effective medication in managing relapse or recurrence of critical elevations in mood and the tolerance level of quetiapine amongst

The atypical antipsychotics or second generation antipsychotics (SGA) are a group of antipsychotics that were introduced in the clinical practice during the early 1990. All over world these agents are most commonly prescribed for Schizophrenia and other illnesses with psychotic symptoms. This article will focus on brief overview of the atypical antipsychotics as a class and brief description of selected atypical antipsychotics.