schizophrenia

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*The 4th key to recovery is learning and practicing good stress management and coping techniques.- It is so important to be aware of your illness. When symptoms start to come on, you need to be aware of them and find ways to cope. Also, patients and family members can learn to recognize "early warning symptoms" so that relapse (sick periods) can be managed quickly and symptoms minimized. Everyone has different ways to cope and I encourage you to find yours. I will make a few suggestions and I will share with you my coping techniques. Lets Start with when you first wake up. When you wake up in the morning, spend a few minutes by yourself meditating or reassuring yourself that today is going to be a great day. Have a routine for every morning. Stick to the routine. This will help start the day off on a positive note. When you feel a delusion or paranoia coming on, rationalize with yourself. Analyze the delusion. Find a quiet place to take a "time out" period and let yourself calm down and slow down. Think back and try to figure out what may have caused or triggered the symptom. Find a rational explanation.Write it down. Tell someone you trust what you are experiencing. Let them reassure you. Remember that this person is someone who loves you and they would not lie to you or cause you harm. Remember that you have Schizophrenia and that what you are going through, is a symptom of schizophrenia. Your delusions are not true no matter how real they feel. If you are hearing voices turn on the TV or radio. This helps me a great deal. My brain starts to focus on the sound of the radio or TV and the voices inside my head fade. Analyzing everything has helped me a great deal as well. For example, when I'm talking to someone on the phone and I hang up, I still hear their voice in my head. The reason why is simple. It's not because the person is still talking to me. It's because my brain has been processing the sound of that persons voice for so long, that when we are done talking, my Schizophrenic brain continues to remember the sound of that persons voice and my brain continues to process the sound as if it was still hearing it. Its a hallucination. A normal brain shuts off the sound as soon as its done hearing it. A schizophrenic brain doesn't. My greatest coping tool is logic. I can figure out why my brain is experiencing the things it is. I can see through my delusions by logic and the understanding of my disease. This is not as easy as it sounds. When your brain is telling you one thing its hard to think any other way. You simply cant rationalize with your brain when your brain is acting irrational. You are asking your brain to think two different ways at the same time. Because everyone cant do this, there are other ways to cope until the symptom or symptoms pass. Such as writing in a journal, drawing, exercising, talking to a friend or family member, listening to music or taking up a hobby. If nothing works, take your medication early and go to bed. If symptoms continue and become unbearable, check yourself into a hospital. You may need a med change. Schizophrenia is a lifetime illness. It is up to you to be aware of your disease and find ways to deal with it. Don't get discouraged. Think positive. Life can be great. Getting 8 hours of sleep per night, volunteering, doing chores, staying productive, having friends, having good relationships with other people and having routines can all be beneficial. Have your coping techniques memorized and ready to be used as soon as you feel symptoms approaching. That is my advice. Below is the advice of another that has helped me. It would at first appear contradictory to give advice on how to cope with delusions. The argument is that persons with delusions by definition believe their irrational ideas to be both real and true; therefore, they cannot be argued or reasoned out of them. This is correct. Nonetheless, persons with delusions often recognize their borderline and impossible character. Although they will usually resist outside reasoning, they often struggle within themselves against delusions. The psychoanalyst Robert Lindner points that it is incorrect to believe that in every instance persons with delusions are so “far gone” that they do not know they are mad. Lindner notes that, for the most part, deranged persons are aware of their disturbance, aware either because it directly induces personal suffering or because they are made to suffer for it by others.

Also, it should be noted that the severity of delusions waxes and wanes. Persons with schizophrenia often experience a spontaneous remission of symptoms, sometimes for prolonged periods of time. Antipsychotic drugs also bring about a reduction in the severity of symptoms. During periods of increased mental clarity, disturbed individuals are accessible to rational thinking, including their own.

If you suffer from delusions, you may find value in the following list of practical coping strategies.

*In some cases, delusions have a quality similar to the experiences in a lucid dream. A lucid dream is a dream in which you become aware that you are dreaming. It is then possible to break out of the dream or control it. This often happens with delusions. A part of your consciousness whispers, “This can’t be real. These ideas are impossible.” Under these conditions, it is possible for you to take some control over the delusions.

*When you are in good reality contact, when your delusions have retreated to the corners of your mind, take advantage of a behavior therapy technique called stress-inoculation training. Stress-inoculation training involves preparing yourself ahead of time for a stressful situation. Play a mental movie of future situations in which a delusion interferes with your ability to function effectively. Visualize how you will cope in a practical manner, and work around the delusion. Stress-inoculation training can forearm you against your own unbidden delusional tendencies.

*Make sure that your nutrition is adequate, that you obtain enough protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. There is a substantial amount of evidence suggesting that clear thinking is associated with a healthy brain and nervous system. One way to look at the mind is to think of it as the brain and nervous system in action. A healthy mind requires an equally healthy body. To be more specific, certain chemical messengers in the brain (e.g., Norepinephrine) are required for rational thought. These are synthesized out of substances provided by food. The B-complex vitamins have been found to be of particular importance.

*Do not act on the basis of an idea that you think is true and that most other people think is false. Consider that it just might be a delusion. Do not jump from a roof just because you think you can fly. Do not try to live without food just because you think you are immortal and do not need it. Listen to the small voice within you that says, “I might hurt myself. Maybe other people are right.”

*Avoid the use of psychoactive drugs. These include amphetamines, cocaine, morphine, heroin, cannabis (i.e., marijuana), and lysergic acid diethylamide-25 (LSD). These drugs interact with a tendency to have delusions and sometimes greatly increase the level of irrational thought.

*Be aware of the concept of consensual reality, that is, the way a well-defined group (e.g., a family, a tribe) sees the world. Therefore, even if you do not believe in the group’s perception of reality as a fact, be practical. Work with their reality, not against it, if you want to reduce your level of conflict and suffering.

*If a partner, child, or other person close to you suffers from delusions, below are coping strategies that may be of some value.

*Do not challenge a delusion directly. Do not tell the troubled person such things as, “That’s silly” or “That’s nonsense.” Do not discount the delusion and attempt to minimize its importance. Such blunt frontal attacks tend to galvanize resistance and push the individual farther into the delusion.

*Try to encourage the other person to be as practical as possible in spite of the delusion. Describe the logical consequences of actions. Orient the individual toward reality by pointing out that a given behavior may lead to imprisonment, bodily injury, or property damage. Working with the assumptions of the delusion, help the person steer clear of its buried dangers.

Professional Help-
If you find that you cannot cope adequately with delusions, there are a number of ways in which the professions of psychiatry and clinical psychology can help you.

If delusions are both chronic and severe, a period of hospitalization may be recommended. It is for good reason that an older term for a mental hospital is an asylum. Among the meanings of asylum are “a temporary refuge,” “a sanctuary,” “a secure retreat.” The mental hospital provides a time-out from the stresses and demands of everyday life. In the vast majority of cases, hospitalization is temporary. The goal is to return the individual to the larger social world. Often, treatment is continued on an outpatient basis. Outlined in the following paragraphs are ways of helping the individual that can take place on either an inpatient or outpatient basis.

One of the standard treatments for delusions has been electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This involves the passage of a weak electric current through the frontal part of the brain. Introduced in 1937 by the Italian psychiatrists Ugo Cerletti and Lucia Bini, ECT was a common treatment for schizophrenia for about two decades. Although it is still sometimes recommended for schizophrenia, the present thinking is that the disease can be more readily managed through the use of drug therapy. The principal value of ECT appears to be not in the treatment for delusions, but in the treatment of major depression.

A principal treatment approach for delusions is drug therapy. As a general category, the kinds of drugs used are called major tranquilizers, or antipsychotic agents (psychotic describes an extreme mental or emotional derangement of either biological or emotional origin). A substantial amount of relatively recent research has established that these drugs are effective because they regulate in the brain the action of the chemical messenger dopamine. There are approximately ten of these drugs that are commonly prescribed. Examples of two are haloperidol (i.e., Haldol) and chlorpromazine (i.e., Thorazine). These drugs can have potent adverse side effects; therefore, they are available only when prescribed by a psychiatrist or other physician.

An approach to the treatment of delusions recommended by some therapists is orthomolecular psychiatry. This approach is also called megavitamin therapy. Orthomolecular psychiatry was pioneered by the biochemist Linus Pauling and the psychiatrist David Hawkins. As indicated earlier, the B-complex vitamins in particular seem to play an important part in the synthesis of the brain’s neurotransmitters. Pauling and Hawkins prescribed large doses of vitamins, emphasizing the B-complex group, and reported beneficial results. Orthomolecular psychiatry has not become a primary kind of treatment for delusions, nor is it recommended by a majority of therapists. Nonetheless, a number of professionals think that it may help some individuals in some cases. The individual in megavitamin therapy should be under a physician’s care because of the possible risk of toxic effects of megadoses of vitamins.

Psychotherapy should be combined with drug therapy in the treatment of delusions. When patients are lucid and thinking more clearly, this is an opportunity for the therapist to intervene and help individuals develop ideas and attitudes that will help them cope more effectively with future delusional tendencies. In connection with the psychotherapy, the therapist will often recommend that the troubled person join a support group made up of people with similar symptoms. Patients often find it of great value to exchange ideas for practical ways to cope with delusions. It also helps persons who suffers from delusions to realize that they are neither totally odd nor completely alone.

*A delusion is believing in something that most members of an individual’s family or culture regard as irrational or false.

*Some of the other signs and symptoms frequently associated with the general symptom of a tendency to have delusions are: irrational thinking, hallucinations, disorientation, and magical thinking.

*One of the principal mental disorders associated with delusions is schizophrenia.

*Excessive activity of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain, is a causal factor in delusions.

*Delusions often have a meaning. Frequently, they can be understood as metaphors.

*Use stress-inoculation training to forearm yourself against unbidden delusional tendencies.

*Do not take action on the basis of an idea that you think is true and that most other people think is false. Avoid the use of psychoactive drugs.

*Do not directly challenge the delusions of other people. However, try to encourage them to be practical in their actions.

*If delusions are both chronic and severe, a period of hospitalization may be recommended. A principal treatment approach for delusions is drug therapy. Psychotherapy should be combined with drug therapy in the treatment of delusions.
This info can be found at http://www.thehealthcenter.info/emotions/delusions/coping.ht m Scrollbox Code from MySpaceSupport.com

*Getting support and giving support is the 5th key to recovery.- Find a support group for Schizophrenia to join. If you can't find a local support group in your area, join a support group online. Not only do we need the support of family and friends, we also need support from other Schizophrenia survivors. No one can really know what you are going through except those that have gone through it. It's nice to relate to someone and share experiences. It's also very beneficial to be the one doing the help. When we help others, we are also doing a great service to ourselves. That is the reason why I created this website-to help others and help myself in the process. When I tell someone that they will be OK or that they will get through this, it reminds me that I will as well. Seeing through someone else's delusions, help us to see through our own. Let the support group be your rock. To find a support group in your area, click here. You can also find support groups online. Here is a few- schizophrenia
schizoaffectiveorg
Schiz456
Schizophrenia_and_Schizoaffective
For a complete list click here

*Returning to Society is the 6TH key to Recovery.- So many of us find that after our first episode we are left with minimal to no friends and a complete lack of a social/work life. To say that society has abandoned us may not be completely accurate. Instead, it is my belief that it is we who has abandoned society. In my own experience, I can tell you that I lost all but one friend. With each step deeper into the dark tunnel of madness, another friend seemed to disappear. With the loss of friends also came the loss of one job after another. At the time I thought that of course this was due to some great conspiracy but now I can see that my increasingly erratic behavior was the true cause. So what do we do when we are well again? How do we rejoin society and do we even want to? After living through the battle of your first Schizophrenic episode, it's hard to relate to other people and it seems more like a hassle than a reward. Yet the desire (in most cases) to have friends and a social life remains. It's human nature to want to have other human contact. Not only does it bring enjoyment into our lives, it is extremely important for our mental health. Even if you feel like you can't get back into the "real world", you must! Take baby steps. Step back into society slowly and at a reasonable pace. Try something easy at first, like making lite conversation with a stranger at a store or a neighbor. Do this at least once a day. Then move from there. Try rejoining the workforce. Find an easy job that you think you can handle, part-time. This will give you a sense of purpose and a sense of self. The number one place to meet friends is at work! Use this to your advantage by being friendly with your co-workers. After a few weeks of being friendly, step out of your comfort zone and ask a co-worker to hang out sometime outside of work. Another thing that you could do is contact your old friends. I did and now I'm in contact with all of my old friends. Give them a call. Odds are that they have thought about you and have wanted to get in contact with you. Ask them to meet up and catch up. Other ways to meet people are by going to a gym, joining a class, volunteering, or using the Internet. Besides having a social life, having a steady income is just as important. As I mentioned before, start off with an easy part-time job. After you get the hang of working again, think bigger. What is it you want to do? Do you already have a degree in something? If not, why not go back to school. It is never too late. Recovery from Schizophrenia is a second chance at life. Take advantage of that and do everything you've ever wanted to do. Remember that merging back into society can and will be stress full at first. To combat this stress, remember all of your coping tools and of course ALWAYS REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR MEDICATION.

Schizophrenia is a lifetime illness. Everyday you have to wake up and make a choice. You have to choose to stay in the fight and not let this disease win. Be committed to recovery and yourself. You now have all the keys to Recovery. It's up to you to unlock the door to your new life.