Schizophrenia

by frankiespeakin 38 Replies latest jw experiences

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Recently I went to a talk by a scientist who is investigating infection (or rather immunological response to infection) as a causation for both schizophrenia and autism. There were like 4 or 5 independent factors that pointed to a relationship with infection in the second trimester. One thing I recall is the description of how an adult person with schizophrenia could in certain circumstances have their delusional symptoms disappear entirely while their body is fighting a particular infection, only to have the symptoms return when the person recovers from the illness.

    "Substantial research suggests that exposure to certain illnesses (e.g., influenza) in the mother of the neonate (especially at the end of the second trimester) causes defects in neural development which may emerge as a predisposition to schizophrenia around the time of puberty, as the brain grows and develops" (Wikipedia)

    Brown, AS (2006 Apr). "Prenatal Infection as a Risk Factor for Schizophrenia". Schizophrenia bulletin32 (2): 200–2. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbj052. PMC 2632220. PMID 16469941.

  • jgnat
    jgnat

    My son is Schizophrenic. He would be in terror of his life every moment if it weren't for the antipsychotics. Both my daughter and I have noted a deterioration and "flattening" of his personality, and an inability to read people's expressions. Every once in a while his personality and sly humour shines through. My pharmacist friend says that brain scans show lesions develop in the frontal lobe of schizophrenics, and that antipsychotics slow down this slow deterioration.

  • frankiespeakin
    frankiespeakin

    Nut,

    Yes I agree this treatment may work for some forms or causes of schizophrenia. This doctor worked with young adults, and who were screened to those that match the right type. They were in the intitial stages.

    ""John Weir Perry (1914 - 1998) [2] was a Jungian psychiatrist who founded an experimental residential facility called Diabasis, in San Francisco, California, during the 1970s. This was designed as a comfortable home where young adults, who were experiencing the initial days of their first "acute schizophrenic break", could live in and be empowered to go through their Apocalypse on the way to greater health and happiness. The results were amazing: without any treatment by medication, electroshock or locked doors – but with opportunities for painting, dance, massage, meditation and conversation – full-blown "schizophrenics" were able to go through their ego-death and emerge on the other side, as Perry put it, "weller than well." Instead of being sent to a mental hospital and/or being expected to take medication for the rest of their lives, these people would live at Diabasis for the first three months, spend three more months in a half-way home, and then return to the outside world, with few if any relapses of their "schizophrenia"! [3] ""

  • frankiespeakin
  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Maybe therapy might have some benefit in coping in conjunction with medical treatment, but as a replacement it would like debugging an installation of software when it is really a hardware problem.

  • frankiespeakin
    frankiespeakin

    Leo,

    Seems to be a multible set of causes some hardware and some software both/and or one.

    http://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/guide/schizophrenia-symptoms-types

  • breakfast of champions
    breakfast of champions

    JGNAT - sorry to hear about your son. Schizophrenic disorders can be some of the cruelest, up there with Alzheimer's.

    A great first person account is Mark Vonnegut's "The Eden Express" ( he is the son of Kurt Vonnegut). He has a great follow up book just a few years old about how he overcame this obstacle and became a MD, "Just Like Someone Without Mental Illness Only More So"

  • frankiespeakin
  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    I should mention that not that long ago, a diagnosis meant the individual could not be admitted in to a profession. Now it is evaluated on an individual basis. There are practicing lawyers, doctor, Indians chiefs, etc. with schizoprhenia.

  • Xanthippe
    Xanthippe

    Yes Band on the Run, Rufus May in the UK was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager but he is now a clinical psychologist.

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