Treatment

There are three different ways which are mainly used to treat this disorder which are: Medications, Therapy, and Electroconvulsive therapy. The medications used are anti psychotic drugs which shows substantial improvement in a patient when taken.. Using medications is a lifelong commitment for the patients, if the medications are stopped a relapse may occur.(Drugs) There are four main types of therapies used for schizophrenic patients, these are: individual psychotherapy, rehabilitation, family education, and self-help groups. Individual psychotherapy involves sessions between a therapist and patient in which they discuss past problems as well as current ones. This sometimes leads the patient to be able to differentiate between reality and what is not reality which is just occurring in the patients mind. Those with schizophrenia can become better if they have families who are involved with them, that is family education. Self-help groups also help a person with schizophrenia since it gets the patient more socially involved as well as giving them access to outside sources in which it enables them to get the help they need from others. With help from others they can receive information that they had not previously had. (Therapy) Electroconvulsive therapy is when, “pulsed electricity is sent through electrodes that have been placed on a patient’s head, inducing a brief seizure.” (Roleff) This form of treatment has some side effects which include temporary memory loss. Though this is a form of treatment, studies have shown that using electroconvulsive therapy is rarely effective when treating chronic schizophrenia. This makes electroconvulsive therapy not the best choice if  looking for recovery or stability.