SCHIZOPHRENIA

WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA

• Mental illness
• Cause unknown
• Starts usually from teens to early 30’s
• Then is lifelong
• Reduces quality and quantity of life, assoc early dementia, Cvd, accidental death, D&A, other mental illnesses, homelessness.

SIGNS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

• cold and emotionless mood
• movement problems
• talking to self or people not there
• withdrawal
• agitation
• poor self care
• insomnia

SYMPTOMS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

• odd or strange ideas
• delusions, hallucinations
• jumbled thoughts
• feeling others are in control of their body
• feeling others are adding or removing thoughts from their brain.

TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

• Medications
• Depoantipsychotic
• CBT
• stop things that make it worse - stress, illicit drugs
• CTO

SCHEDULE

• doctor has to see you
• decide you are danger to self orothers
• such that requires taking to hospital, for treatment/observation
• lasts only for a limited period of time
• ambulance.police often required

PLAN AND TEAM OF CARE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

• Care plan for mental and physical issues.
• Newcastle mental health care team
• Gp
• Community team
• Hospital team
• SNAP

CLOZAPINE

• Effective and dangerous.
• Only licenced doctors
• If criteria not met can’t get script_ go to Mater.
• Fbc, ecg, echo

TIPS FOR DEALING WITH THOSE SUFFERING WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA

• Variable level function
• Help BUT
• Within your boundaries
• Small things can save a lot of grief- reminders, scripts, returning phone calls to careers, communicatiom
• Can be trained, do have feelings, do have some self efficacy but it is variable.
• Dementia rules

Schizophrenia drugs we give here

• Depoantipsychotic.
• clozapine - clozapine certified doc.
• Dystonic reaction.Agitated, stiff uncomfortable in own skin, strange movts face and jaw, strange movts arms and legs, cant sit stand normally.

Spelling test

• schizophrenia
• psychosis
• hallucination
• clozapine
• schedule

Psychosis

• strange ideas
• delusions - fixed false beliefs
• hallucinations - sensations that are not based in reality
• paranoia
• main issue is disconnection from reality
• schizophrenia is not only cause