Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves( Jauhar, Laws & McKenna, 2019). The victims of this disease seem to have lost touch with the actual life. Schizophrenia is one of the most common mental disorders in the world. Schizophrenia is a unique disease that trespasses through the boundaries of gender, age, and ethics( Jauhar, Laws & McKenna, 2019). Those who suffer from this type of disease show numerous sign and symptoms which include but not limited to hallucination, delusion, movements disorder, and thought disorder. Others may include flat effects or reduced expression of emotions via facial expression or voice tone and Reduced speaking ( Jauhar, Laws & McKenna, 2019). The paper focuses on the biological treatment of Schizophrenia concerning the weaknesses that make them less effective to psychological treatment such as CBT.
The treatment of Schizophrenia has raised a lot of complicated questions, a situation that has brought about a lot of confusions as each method of biological treatment that is suitable for this condition seems to have some critical weaknesses that act as its weak point and the source of its eliminations ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016). There are many biological means of treatments that have been proposed and used on many occasions to treat Schizophrenia. The first and most known is antipsychotic drugs. The best known of the best known for this generation is the PTZ. These drugs block dopamine activity within 48 hours, and this seems to be why they are therapeutic for people with schizophrenia ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016). There are several types of these drugs. For instance, the first one came to existence in the year 1971 called (AAP) ( Elkis& Buckley, 2016). The Risperidone followed it in the 1990s and the Olanzapine that people mostly use in the current century. Mostly, individuals use clozapine when other drugs have failed ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016). Another way is through neuroleptics. Physicians can prescribe these drugs in a relatively standardized manner (chlorpromazine equivalent), but neuroleptics will be less than effective on the type of schizophrenia with negative symptoms (Dinan & Cryan, 2018).
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There are different issues which come about when the use treats schizophrenia of antipsychotic drugs mentioned above. The most noticeable effects of these drugs, when used in this context, is the radical adverse effects they have on a patient. First, these drugs result in a massive change in mental health and thus have huge impacts on the patients. The drugs cause dryness in the mouth, blurred vision, weight gain, and sleep problems, and this has made them unpleasant to some extent ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016). Further, critiques of these drugs also claim that antipsychotic drugs also take several weeks before a victim or a patient can notice any positive change concerning their signs and symptoms reduction ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016). Besides, the drugs also cause some serious issues such as drooling and muscles tremors. There is also evidence that some of these drugs also cause tardive dyskinesia, a condition that causes uncontrollable facial grimaces. Finally, other critiques also argue that the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs, not least because the drugs sensitize the brain, which means that their discontinuation, especially if sudden, can leave the mind in ‘over-drive' and thereby precipitate a relapse ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016).
Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is a psychological approach that has helped many people with different mental problems. CBT is one of the approaches that are suitable for Schizophrenia. The CBT involves an open talk with the victim where the victim must be ready to open up and share his or her depressive concern ( Jauhar, Laws & McKenna, 2019). Hasan et al. (2017) argue that when a patient can open up and share their side of their story, they tend to get help, and this is the reason why CBT is critical. Besides, Dinan & Cryan (2018) claim that the use of CBT for a person who is suffering from Schizophrenia is useful because it has no side effects that are apparent when the person use antipsychotic drugs. Also, Correll et al. (2017) state that the combination of the CBT and antipsychotic drugs can help in curing hallucination and delusion in a patient who has Schizophrenia. The disadvantage of this method is that a patient must be ready to open up and share some sensitive side of his or her life. Most patients thus sometimes feel uncomfortable and prefer to take the pills rather than revealing their dark side. It is because this reason also that any person preferring CBT over antipsychotic drugs must use individual-based counseling or treatment.
People with psychotic disorders have a lot of issues that affect their lives. Normally, these individuals sometimes tend to experience many short term issues, and this places their lives at a crossroad. However, most of these individuals experience some long term effects which tend to change their lives and make them more vulnerable to difficulties in life. Depression sometimes becomes one of the permanent issues that affect these individuals, mostly in a situation where they are unable to recover from their significant problems ( Elkis & Buckley, 2016). In most cases, these individuals find themselves without jobs and in financial crisis because they use a lot of money for treatment. Sometimes, the condition persists for sometimes and thus ends up rendering them unable to continue with their work, which leads to financial challenges that lead to depression. Further, societal stigma is another issue that comes alongside the matters of psychotic disorder. These also bring a lot of stress that can lead to permanent frustration and depression.
In conclusion, it is evident that though antipsychotic drugs are one of the most prominent biological means of treating Schizophrenia, it fails in that it has some weaknesses that people need to address. CBT is emerging as one of the psychological approaches to treating this condition. Hence, people need to prioritize the treatment because of its long term benefits.
References
Correll, C. U., Yu, X., Xiang, Y., Kane, J. M., &Masand, P. (2017).Biological treatment of acute agitation or aggression with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in the inpatient setting. Annals of clinical psychiatry: official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists , 29 (2), 92-107.
Dinan, T. G., &Cryan, J. F. (2018). Schizophrenia and the microbiome: Time to focus on the impact of antipsychotic treatment on the gut microbiota. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry , 19 (8), 568-570.
Elkis, H., & Buckley, P. F. (2016).Treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Psychiatric Clinics , 39 (2), 239-265.
Hasan, A., Falkai, P., Wobrock, T., Lieberman, J., Glenthøj, B., Gattaz, W. F., ...& WFSBP Task Force on Treatment Guidelines for Schizophrenia. (2017). World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) guidelines for biological treatment of schizophrenia–a short version for primary care. International journal of psychiatry in clinical practice , 21 (2), 82-90.
Jauhar, S., Laws, K. R., & McKenna, P. J. (2019). CBT for schizophrenia: a critical viewpoint. Psychological medicine , 49 (8), 1233-1236.
