Early-Onset Schizophrenia Diagnosis Essay

Early-Onset Schizophrenia Diagnosis Essay

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disease that disrupts the cognitive, psychosocial and emotional functioning of an individual. Formerly, the disease was most associated with adults. However, researchers have found evidence of the disease amongst young children and adolescents in recent days. Evidently, research posits that application of psychotherapeutic interventions as an adjunct to pharmacological treatment leads to relapse and improves a patient’s long-term recovery. Specifically, cognitive behavioral therapy, family interventions, and psycho-education have demonstrated satisfactory levels of clinical efficacy when treating adults and children with schizophrenia Early-Onset Schizophrenia Diagnosis Essay.

ORDER A FREE-PLAGIARISM PAPER NOW

Psychotherapeutic Interventions for Schizophrenic Adults and Children

Systematic reviews propose that psychotherapeutic interventions combined with pharmacological treatment improve schizophrenic patients’ prognosis, averting the chronicity of the disease in the long run. Evidently, Giles and Martini(2016) state that psychosocial strategies not only address the patient’s psychological needs for instance symptom reduction, but also prove to be cost-effective in terms of treatment. These interventions have individual set objectives and treatment agendas, which ought to be applied in a precise manner to realize desirable outcomes. Besides, they require trained staff and adequate resources for their implementation.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a highly standardized and structured form of therapy that evaluates the thoughts and perceptions of a patient, before administering the necessary care. Chien, Leung, Yeung, and Wong (2013) postulate that during the application of CBT, therapists are required to accept the patients’ views of life, to foster a better understanding of their predicaments. Besides, the patients are obligated to participate by giving their personal experiences and ways of coping with their illness. CBT has proved successful in stabilizing patient adults and children. In adults, the normalizing rationale method empowers adult and young patients to cope and avoid social withdrawal (Chien et al., 2013). The application of this technique bears significant positive effect since children and adult patients record increased positive symptoms. Besides, rates of re-hospitalization diminish, when CBT is applied precisely Early-Onset Schizophrenia Diagnosis Essay.

Psycho-education Programs

Psycho-educational models specifically narrow the focus on reducing re-hospitalization of adults and children with mental instabilities. Psycho-education in the stabilization of schizophrenic patients entails an array of approaches, which entail philosophical perspectives tailored to meet specific patients’ demands. Chiesa et al. (2015) demonstrate that these approaches help family members of both adult and child patients to offer emotional and environmental support for eventual healing. Parents and guardians are advised to encourage schizophrenic adults and children to adjust to their situation, a factor that eventually improves their self-management skills.  Hargrave and Arthur (2015) posit that psycho-educational approaches ought to be incorporated into family-based and multicomponent psychotherapeutic interventions, to guarantee long-term desirable patient outcomes.

Legal and Ethical Issues of Forceful Medication on Schizophrenic Children

Non-adherence to medication is one of the major challenges psychologists face. However, it is apparent that some patients may not offer informed decisions when taking drugs, a factor that leads to poor outcomes. Forceful administration of psychiatric medication is not approved in many places unless recommended in the constitution. Asher, Fekadu, Teferra, Silva, Pathare, and Hanlon (2017), state that a nurse may only oversee forceful medication if the child is mentally unstable to make dependable judgments. However, such moves should be sanctioned by guardians, and if possible, with permission from the relevant authorities. Besides, a mentally unstable child ought to be scrutinized by a qualified psychologist to confirm his/her state. A Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHMP) ought to ascertain that a psychiatric patient poses a danger to the public or himself/herself before forcefully administering medication. Through these considerations, PMHMPs would avoid any tussles that may arise from legal and moral deliberations Early-Onset Schizophrenia Diagnosis Essay.

Conclusion

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disease that interrupts the cognitive, psychosocial and emotional state of victims. It is a disease that affects both adults and children. However, researchers explain that through psychotherapeutic interventions combined with administration of psychotic drugs, schizophrenic patients can stabilize. For instance, application of psycho-education programs and CBT are known to bear desirable outcomes. Psychiatrists face the challenge of forcefully administering drugs on psychotic patients especially children. However, it is imperative that they consider the legal procedures before engaging in the activity. Besides, they ought to involve guardians of the sick child to avert possibilities of legal tussles.

references

Asher, L., Fekadu, A., Teferra, S., Silva, M., Pathare, S., & Hanlon, C. (2017). “I cry every day and night, I have my son tied in chains”: Physical restraint of people with schizophrenia in community settings in Ethiopia. Globalization and health, 13(1), 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-017-0273-1

Chien, W. T., Leung, S. F., Yeung, F. K., & Wong, W. K. (2013). Current approaches to treatments for schizophrenia spectrum disorders, part II: Psychosocial interventions and patient-focused perspectives in psychiatric care. Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 9, 1463. doi:  10.2147/NDT.S49263.

Chiesa, A., Castagner, V., Andrisano, C., Serretti, A., Mandelli, L., Porcelli, S., & Giommi, F. (2015). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy vs. psycho-education for patients with major depression who did not achieve remission following antidepressant treatment. Psychiatry research, 226(2), 474-483. https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2011.0407

Giles, L. L., & Martini, D. R. (2016). Challenges and promises of pediatric psychopharmacology. Academic Pediatrics, 16(6), 508–518. doi:10.1016/j.acap.2016.03.011.

Hargrave, T. M., & Arthur, M. E. (2015). Teaching child psychiatric assessment skills: Using pediatric mental health screening tools. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 50(1), 60–72. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/docview/1702699596?accountid=14872 Early-Onset Schizophrenia Diagnosis Essay.