For counselors, empathy should play a big part in therapy – from knowing the many side effects of schizophrenia medications to fully understanding what it is like to live with hallucinations and psychosis, say Prosek and Hurt.

It can teach the individual how to manage stress, the side-effects of any medication. It can also help to manage related issues such as anxiety and depression. The therapist may recommend CBT and work with the individual to devise coping strategies. This will help them deal with any positive symptoms of psychosis.

Helping Someone with Schizophrenia

1. Accept the illness and its difficulties.
2. Not buy into the myth that someone with schizophrenia can’t get better or live a full and meaningful life.
3. Do your best to help your loved one feel better and enjoy life.
4. Pay attention to your own needs.
5. Maintain your sense of humor and remain hopeful.

Working with a therapist or counselor can help people with schizophrenia improve their social skills, develop higher self-esteem, and learn more about mental health issues that may accompany the condition.

Encourage Self-Help Strategies

1. Relaxation techniques including mindfulness, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation.
2. Daily exercise.
3. Maintain a healthy, balanced diet.
4. Refrain from alcohol and drugs.
5. Seek social support other than immediate caregivers.

Genetic factors A predisposition to schizophrenia can run in families. In the general population, only one percent of people develop it over their lifetime, but if one parent has schizophrenia, the children have a 10 percent chance of developing the condition – and a 90 percent chance of not developing it.

People with schizophrenia often die at a considerably younger age than the rest of the population. Reasons for this include: late diagnosis and poor treatment of physical illnesses, metabolic side effects of antipsychotic medication, unhealthy lifestyle and high risk of suicide (reviewed by Laursen et al, 2014).

What not to say to someone with schizophrenia

• Don’t be rude or unsupportive.
• Don’t bully them into doing something they don’t want to do.
• Don’t interrupt them.
• Don’t assume you know what they need.
• Don’t second guess or diagnose them.
• Don’t use words that make you seem like an enemy.
• Start a dialogue, not a debate.

While no cure exists for schizophrenia, it is treatable and manageable with medication and behavioral therapy, especially if diagnosed early and treated continuously.

But now, new Norwegian research suggests that more than half of the study participants are doing well. After four years of treatment, 55 per cent of the young people were partially or fully recovered, and fully ten per cent of those who are fully recovered no longer use medication.

There are five types of symptoms characteristic of schizophrenia: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, disorganized behavior, and the so-called “negative” symptoms. However, the symptoms of schizophrenia vary dramatically from person to person, both in pattern and severity.

They may get angry at others for not understanding them, or for failing to stand by them in their hour of need. Sudden outbursts of anger and aggression in general are a symptom of schizophrenia, and they may not have any specific cause. Anxiety.

It has been commonly understood that positive symptoms of schizophrenia decline in later life, while negative symptoms dominate the presentation in older age. However, findings from several studies have invalidated this notion.

Schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment, even when symptoms have subsided. Treatment with medications and psychosocial therapy can help manage the condition. In some cases, hospitalization may be needed. A psychiatrist experienced in treating schizophrenia usually guides treatment.

The lie motif in schizophrenia seems to come into being through the attribution process of taking the others’ blame on ones’ own shoulders, which has been pointed out to be common in the guilt experience in schizophrenia.

Multiple factors, including insufficient social support, substance abuse, and symptom exacerbations, can precipitate aggressive behavior. Moreover, failure to treat schizophrenic patients adequately is a major risk factor for aggression.

Follow-up studies have estimated that 10–13% of individuals with schizophrenia die by suicide, which is the main cause of death among these patients [3]. However, a recent meta-analysis estimated that 4.9% of schizophrenics commit suicide during their lifetime [4].

[2] The most common hallucinations in schizophrenia are auditory, followed by visual. Tactile, olfactory and gustatory are reported less frequently [Table 1]. [3] Visual hallucinations in schizophrenia have a predominance of denatured people, parts of bodies, unidentifiable things and superimposed things.

Most people who commit suicide have a diagnosable mental disorder — most commonly a depressive disorder or a substance abuse disorder. Four times as many men than women commit suicide. However, women attempt suicide more often than men. The highest suicide rates in the U.S. are found in Caucasian men over age 85.

People suffering from schizophrenia may isolate themselves from others and confine themselves into their homes. The withdrawal may be caused by delusions, thought disorders or the deterioration of social skills, as well as by the fear of interacting with other people.