Mental Disorders: Schizophrenia Case Study

Schizophrenia is a psychosis; this is defined as a loss of contact with reality. There are positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The individual may see or hear things that are not really there or believe in things that are false, which are called delusions. These are referred to as positive symptoms because they contribute to an excess of behaviour. Negative symptoms are referred to as negative because behaviour is reduced or entirely not there, such symptoms include reduced emotional expression and reduced social attachments and behaviour. These symptoms are not necessarily bizarre and often times can go unnoticed, the problem is that they are more difficult to treat. Schizophrenia is primarily considered to be egodystonic, because

A program that must be discussed in treatment for schizophrenia is an approach called biobehavioral therapy. Within this approach, the doctor follows five behavioural training modules that are designed to teach simple skills, which patients may have difficulty in, due to the disorder they are suffering from. The basic skills that are approached with biobehavioral therapy are medication and symptom management, self-care, recreation, job finding and basic conversational skills. The patient is also engaged within the process of the treatment as a collaborator. Within the case study of schizophrenia, Dr. Sorkin used this program in the treatment for the patient. This treatment was efficient due fact that the doctor took the patient’s opinions very seriously and allowed the patient to decide if the medication was working or not. When the patient felt that after a month of taking the medication it was not working and he wanted to stop, the doctor encouraged him to stay at the current dose for at least two more weeks and see if it works. It did begin to work and the patient decided to continue

An important aspect of cognitive-behavioural therapy is explaining the fact that anomalous experience can occur in individuals who are considered healthy but who may be suffering from stress or sleep deprivation. This is helpful in terms of allowing the individual to understand that they are suffering, but that they are not alone, that it could occur to anyone. This allows the patient to feel safe and this takes blame away from the individual who is suffering from schizophrenia. It becomes less of a worry for them that they are up against the world; they instead begin to understand that they can relate to others and that they are not so different. Establishing a trusting relationship that is collaborative is important within cognitive-behavioural therapy. This is done by showing empathy, understanding the individual, being a good listener and asking questions in a gentle manner. Similar to cognitive-behavioural therapy for depression and anxiety, individuals are taught to record and monitor their thoughts with voice diaries. Patients are often given reminder coping cards that can be referred to when symptoms reoccur. Cognitive-behavioural therapy has been found, to be moderately effective for both positive and negative