Schizophrenia-A Mental Disorder: Symptoms & Medications

A paranoid Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects the persons’ ability to think, breathe, act, and understand. A person suffering from Schizophrenia gets unable to differentiate between real and imaginary worlds. He/She might hear voices or might see an imaginary person around him/her. 

There are no definite causes of Schizophrenia, doctors’ do not know what are the major reasons that cause this paranoid schizophrenia disorder. A combination of genetics and disturbed brain chemistry may play a significant role in causing this disorder. 

Schizophrenia Symptoms:

• Delusions: Patient start believing the things that have not happened in reality. He/she start living in an imaginary world that harass them throughout.
  
• Hallucinations: Hearing something unusual to them, like hearing voices of someone who has already died or far away from the patient physically.
  
• Speaking disorder: This is a common symptom in Schizophrenia patients, they are unable to answer anything and they are even unable to put words together which can form a meaningful sentence.
  
• Strange Posture: The patient can start behaving like a child or can act as someone who is thrice of his/her age. They do not realize when they behave childishly in mature situations and when they act as someone old in a normal condition.
  
• Confused thinking: It refers to the act of doing something abruptly or unusual. A person with Schizophrenia is unable to express things that are troubling him. He swings between the real world and the imaginary world. 

If a person is going through the above serious symptoms then the chances are that he might require lifelong treatment. The medicines that are prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia disorder are known as ‘Antipsychotics’.

Medications For The Treatment Of Paranoid Schizophrenia:

The antipsychotics are divided into two groups; a ‘first-generation’ or ‘typical’. That includes the following medications:

• Thorazine
• Prolixin
• Trilafon
• Haldol
• Mellaril
• Navane
• Stelazine, etc.

The other group is termed as ‘second-generation’ or ‘atypical’. It includes the following medications

• Abilify
• Saphris
• Clozaril
• Fanapt
• Aristada
• Rexulti
• Geodon
• Seroquel
• Paliperidone
• Latuda
• Zyprexa
• Cariprazine

Antipsychotic medicines are prescribed by your doctor depending on how serious you are due to Schizophrenia disorder. These medications work on brain hormones such as dopamine, it is a hormone released by the nerve cells to send messages to the other nerve cells. 

Side-Effects Of Antipsychotics:

The older medicines are cheaper than the newest medicines. One can release more hormones in the brain than the other. 

The common side effect of second-generation medicine is weight gain. Though, it is not at an extreme level and can be cured with regular exercise and a healthy diet. Blood sugar and cholesterol levels can disbalance due to these antipsychotics, but the doctor claims that a 15-minute jog per day can help you to maintain the level. 

• Weight gain
• Dry mouth
• Sexual issues
• Drowsiness
• Restlessness
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Constipation
• Vision problems
• Low blood pressure

Irregular periods are some side-effects which can be seen in a schizophrenia patient.

“Advice: Never consume these medicines without consulting the doctor.”

If you and your loved ones are suffering from Schizophrenia, then follow proper treatment prescribed by the doctor. Here, meditation could help you to control your mind and allow you to differentiate between the real and imaginary worlds. 

Advice: It may take 2-3 weeks to control the hallucination in a patient. Do not take medications on your own.  

Educate yourself on paranoid schizophrenia disorder for helping yourself and your loved ones. If conditions get out of control then consult a psychiatrist for getting better treatment.