Hi my husband is 36 yrs old and he is suffering from schizophrenia from aug 2013. I want the details for this disease is it curable or not? how should we treat a person?

Question

The disease is not curable but it can be brought under some control and the person can become quite functional by combining medicines and therapy. You may have discovered the schizophrenia only in 2013 but it is likely he had had some symptoms earlier but it was not diagnosed and he may not have presented major symptoms, either. Because it is a psychotic condition he needs to be made to relate to reality often by confronting his distortion of his environment. He may be given to delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking and speech. He may be emotionally unresponsive, suffering from social withdrawal, extreme apathy, and lack of initiative and drive. If he is allowed to go internal he can strongly relate to his distortions and in fact believe in them to be true. His cooperation with the rehabilitation and medical intervention is often not as desirable as it should be. In which case someone has to monitor him constantly and enforce some compliance. He must be kept functional to get him to be aware of his surroundings and build on a steady and trusting relationship with at least one member of the community. He will be difficult to handle, and he himself will not find it easy to comply with therapeutic expectations. With someone strong and firm he could be made to follow a tight schedule and do many activities and exercises to prevent him from succumbing to this illness.

Saul Pereira · Accepted Answer

The disease is not curable but it can be brought under some control and the person can become quite functional by combining medicines and therapy. You may have discovered the schizophrenia only in 2013 but it is likely he had had some symptoms earlier but it was not diagnosed and he may not have presented major symptoms, either. Because it is a psychotic condition he needs to be made to relate to reality often by confronting his distortion of his environment. He may be given to delusions, hallucinations and disordered thinking and speech. He may be emotionally unresponsive, suffering from social withdrawal, extreme apathy, and lack of initiative and drive. If he is allowed to go internal he can strongly relate to his distortions and in fact believe in them to be true. His cooperation with the rehabilitation and medical intervention is often not as desirable as it should be. In which case someone has to monitor him constantly and enforce some compliance. He must be kept functional to get him to be aware of his surroundings and build on a steady and trusting relationship with at least one member of the community. He will be difficult to handle, and he himself will not find it easy to comply with therapeutic expectations. With someone strong and firm he could be made to follow a tight schedule and do many activities and exercises to prevent him from succumbing to this illness.

Bharat Udey · Answer

Hello, welcome to lybrate, I can understand your plight, would like to help you with this. Schizophrenia is a psychotic spectrum disorder characterised by paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, loss of insight, conceptual disorganisation, disorganised speech, impaired judgement, cognitive impairment and negative symptoms can also be present. Its usually occurs in middle ages, more common in males than in females. Pt usually develops unusual beliefs like he's being watched, followed, being plotted against, being discussed by others. At times bizarre behaviours and thought content could also be found. It is a complex syndrome which affects perception, thought, judgement, insight, cognition, motor and behavioural aspects of an individual. If left untreated, chances of spontaneous remissions are less, would gradually worsen. It is a treatable condition, treatment predominantly involves antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine, clozapine etc. Some rare cases also require mect as well. Besides this psycho-social interventions are also required to improve functioning of the individual. If you want to know more details, and want to seek an opinion regarding treatment, you can consult me in private