Symptoms And Treatment Of Schizophrenia - 2390 Words

Living life imagining people and objects that are non-existent, already seems like a difficult way of living. Patients often turn to antipsychotic medications for help with Schizophrenia. The antipsychotic medication can help the patient minimize their hallucinations. The medication can also help the patient depict between what is real and what is a hallucination made up in their mind. According to Awad, â€Å"The clinical picture includes a range of symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, agitation, suspiciousness, hostility, conceptual disorganization, blunted affect, emotional and social withdrawal, lack of spontaneity, poverty of speech and a wide range of neurocognitive deficits† (Awad 877). Needless to say, there are a lot of symptoms†¦show more content†¦People that have been newly diagnosed with this disorder are often scared and do not know what to do. The thought of all of these scary things the patients are going through like, imaging people, seeing non -existent objects and much more can often be terrifying. The majority of the patients are told about antipsychotic medications and all of the perks that come with them. However, a lot of the specialists fail to further explain all of the negative side effects that these very powerful drugs can have on the human body. Antipsychotic medications cause possible issues such as significant amounts of weight gain, life threatening conditions, and the complications of the other side effects leading to emotional issues (citation). Throughout this paper the hope is that newly diagnosed patients will be able to be educated on all aspects of these powerful drugs that they are being prescribed. Many people believe that problems such as weight gain and possible metabolic issues are problems that do not terminally affect a person. It is believed that weight gain can be easily managed by weight loss. However, all people know that is not always the case. There are many ways that weight is said to be managed while being on the medications. Management strategies according to the Harvard Mental Health Letter are, â€Å"Starting with or switching to a drug that may have lower risk, advise patient to eat fewer calories and exercise more, and consider adding a weight-loss drug† (3).