Schizophrenia and Drug Use: Treatment & Therapy Options

This includes changes in the way individuals act, think, and experience the world. When people have psychotic symptoms, they might lose a shared sense of reality with other people. Furthermore, these individuals might experience the world in more of a distorted way.

For some individuals, these symptoms come and go. And for other individuals, the psychotic symptoms become stable after a while. The symptoms usually start in late adolescence or early adulthood. Schizophrenia is often viewed from more of a developmental perspective.

The unusual behaviors and cognitive impairment appear in childhood, and the continuous presence of numerous symptoms indicates a later stage of the disorder. Overall, this pattern might reflect disruptions in brain development and environmental factors such as early life or prenatal stress. This perspective fuels the hope that interventions will improve the course of schizophrenia which is severely disabling when left untreated. Psychotic symptoms include:

Hallucinations

When a person hears, smells, tastes, feels, or sees things that aren’t there. The act of hearing voices is common for those with schizophrenia. When individuals hear voices, they might hear them for a long time before friends or family notice it’s an issue.

Thought Disorder

If a person has ways of thinking that are irrational or unusual, it can be considered a thought disorder. People with a thought disorder might have difficulties organizing their speech and thoughts. Sometimes a person might jump from topic to topic, stop talking in the middle of a conversation, or make up words with no meaning.

Delusions

When a person has strong beliefs that might seem irrational to others or aren’t true. For example, people experiencing delusions might believe that the people on the radio and television are sending them special messages. Furthermore, they might feel that these messages require a specific response. From there, individuals with schizophrenia might believe that they are in danger or that someone is attempting to hurt them.

Movement Disorders

If a person exhibits abnormal body movements, a movement disorder might be at hand. Individuals with this disorder might repeat specific motions over and over again.

The loss of interest, motivation, enjoyment in daily activities, difficulty showing emotions, withdrawal from social life, and difficulty functioning normally. Negative symptoms that are mistaken for symptoms of other mental illnesses such as depression are:

• Having very low energy and spending a great deal of time in passive activities. (In more extreme cases, an individual might stop talking or moving for a while; a rare condition called catatonia.)
• Avoiding social interaction or interacting in socially awkward ways.
• Talking in a low voice and showing limited facial expression.
• Having difficulty anticipating and feeling pressure in daily life.
• Undergoing trouble planning and sticking with activities, like grocery shopping.

This includes problems in concentration, memory, and attention. Overall, these symptoms can make it difficult to learn new things, remember appointments, or follow a conversation. An individual’s level of cognitive functioning is one of the most ideal determinants of daily functioning.

Cognitive functioning is assessed by utilizing particular tests. The symptoms include:

• Experiencing difficulties processing information to make decisions.
• Having trouble utilizing information immediately after learning it.
• Experiencing trouble focusing or paying attention.

Individuals with schizophrenia have an increased risk of premature mortality; death at a younger age than the general population. An estimated average of lives lost for those with schizophrenia is 28.5 years in the U.S. If a person has co-occurring medical conditions, like liver disease, diabetes, and heart disease, it can contribute to a higher premature mortality rate.

The possible reasons for the above-mentioned excess and early mortality rates are increased rates of these medical conditions. Furthermore, they were under-detected and under-treated. An estimated 4.9% of individuals with schizophrenia die by suicide.

This means that is the highest risk in the early stages of illness. Roughly, half of the individuals with schizophrenia have mental co-occurring and/or behavioral health disorders.

The financial costs that are associated with schizophrenia are unequally high relative to other chronic physical and mental health conditions. When it comes to the disproportionately financial costs, it reflects the following areas:

• Social service needs
• “Direct” costs of healthcare
• Criminal justice involvement
• “Indirect” costs of lost productivity
• And other factors beyond healthcare

The dual diagnosis program model includes both mental health disorder treatment and addiction treatment. This specific model of treatment works to address the comorbidity by treating both conditions concurrently. If both conditions aren’t addressed, relapse rates remain high because patients are unwilling or unable to recover mentally before quitting drug use.

This dual diagnosis model has been proven successful because it forms the basis for various rehab programs. It’s important to note that this program won’t ensure relapse from occurring. Relapse is avoided based on the person’s personality, coping skill development, and willingness to continue forward.

Co-occurring disorder treatment isn’t ideal for every person due to the psychiatric aspect of it is difficult. For this specific reason, dual diagnosis treatment centers provide treatment in environments where the patients feel at ease and comfortable. Though there has been debate centered around if patients would benefit from dual diagnosis, remember this: Hope will appear where there wasn’t hope before.

Some specific cognitive-behavioral therapies and techniques can assist patients faced with addiction and schizophrenia. It helps them become aware of their feelings and how to control them more effectively. CBT therapists work with those struggling with schizophrenia and drug abuse to learn how to understand certain emotions, actions, and thoughts that are related.

By the individual learning more about their behaviors, dual diagnosis can avoid negative patterns that can lead to relapse. Also, a person’s coping skills can be improved upon. The therapists will be trained in areas such as:

• Addiction counseling
• Psychology
• Psychiatry

This will allow for the person undergoing addiction and schizophrenia to be addressed from various angles. Therefore, ensuring the patient receives treatment for their needs all at once. Oftentimes, patients in dual diagnosis treatment need continual care to prevent any relapse. Overall, the goal of dual diagnosis treatment is to assist patients in achieving and maintaining emotional stability. So they can avoid triggers that might cause them to engage in drug use.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/schizophrenia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181760/
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28919117/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16023620/