Leading a Healthy Life With Schizophrenia
Coping with schizophrenia is not just hard for the sufferer, but can also be difficult for his family members and loved ones as well. Although schizophrenia can be a complicated and contradictory disorder, always keep in mind that living with this psychological disorder is possible for everyone involved.
Even if you have diagnosed schizophrenia, there are various ways to return and live a normal life. The key to living a healthy life despite of this mental illness lies in a combination of factors: finding the right medical regimen or interventions, developing the right attitude, and staying positive and consistent.
At first, if a family member or friend is suffering from the disorder, it is important to remember that they are not accountable for causing it, and you cannot solve or cure it for them. Also, another important thing to keep in mind is that even though you have the best intentions for them, the symptoms might actually get worse from time to time.
It is usually as difficult for the patient to accept the illness as it is for the people around them. For that reason, acceptance and patience are ideal, even though they might not always be possible to exist. Understanding about the mental disorder is very important, and trying to separate the person from his disorder might help out as far as patience and acceptance goes. Furthermore, reasoning with a delusion will not make it leave. The person with schizophrenic symptoms might on some level know that the thing that they feel is a delusion, or they might not. Delusions, the events, voices, or hallucinations appear to be very real for the sufferers; therefore, being calm during an outburst is important. Avoid trying to do anything to agitate the situation. However, if the individual threatens to do something that can harm you or themselves, then it is important to call for help.
The need to overcome schizophrenic symptoms is very critical given the average statistics of individuals diagnosed with this mental illness. According to mental health experts, there are approximately 2.5 million people suffering from the disorder. The good news is that 10 to 20 percent of these figures were able to achieve the successful recovery from the condition. In fact, there are numerous famous personalities who became successful in their respective fields in spite of being previously diagnosed with the disorder. These famous people include author Jack Kerouac, Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd guitarist), and the Nobel Prize recipient John Nash.
Identifying the common problems that hinder you towards the successful treatment is a key method to achieve a successful recovery. These may include positive and negative symptoms, and the possibility of developing side effects, especially with antipsychotic drugs or medications. Relying solely on your medication regimen is not enough, a successful recovery can happen with a combination of counseling, antipsychotic drugs, therapy, and other treatment procedures. To lead a healthy life, it is very important to find a treatment that also addresses the negative symptoms of this illness.