Schizophrenia is certainly the most severe mental health disorder. It’s a life-long mental health condition that not only reduces your lifespan but also disturbs the quality of your day-to-day life.
Sadly, a lot of people still confuse the symptoms of schizophrenia with paranoia or psychotic disorder. Speaking of its symptoms, they’re divided into two categories, positive and negative symptoms.
Positive symptoms of schizophrenia include:
- Hallucination: You feel, smell, see, and hear things that nobody else does
- Delusions: Strange beliefs that have nothing to do with the reality
- Movement disorders like tics or abnormally jumpy behavior
- Disorganized speech, inhibited behaviour, and confusion
On the other hand, negative symptoms of schizophrenia are:
- Short attention span with no follow-through
- Withdrawal from friends and family
- Flattening of emotions
- Lack of pleasure in everyday life activities
Ways to Tame the Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment. One may need to take antipsychotics and mood stabilizers consistently; however, the dose can be reduced if you successfully manage the symptoms naturally. Yes, it’s possible. Here’s what you need to do:
Herbs and Plants
Allopathic medicines have several side effects; thus, it’s best to reduce their dose if you cannot ditch them altogether. As an alternative, you can use herbs and plants as several of them bring along natural healing properties.
A few of them include ashwagandha, passionflower, saffron, valerian root, and CBD oil extracts. They can reduce the mood symptoms of schizophrenia like stress and anxiety, and help you get back to your everyday routine naturally and effectively.
Regular Exercise
Regular exercise is necessary if you wish to stay on a healthier track and fight the disorder naturally. If you continue exercising regularly, your body will start producing more of the endorphins (happy chemicals).
As you know, low mood and fatigue are two prominent symptoms of schizophrenia. An increase in the endorphin levels means a happier mood, less stress, and reduced fatigue. Hence, it won’t be wrong to say that exercise hits many birds with a single stone.
Psychotherapy
Ranking third is psychotherapy. When treating mental health disorders like schizophrenia, medicines, psychotherapy, and an active lifestyle go hand in hand. All these things, when combined, can successfully tame the symptoms of schizophrenia.
Not to mention, individual psychotherapy isn’t enough when it comes to schizophrenia. You may also need to seek family-focused psychotherapy. When you have schizophrenia or someone in your family does, the entire family suffers. Thus, family-focused psychotherapy is a must.
Electroconvulsive Shock Treatment (ECT)
If nothing else works, you must move towards electroconvulsive shock treatment (ECT). A medical procedure that can change the neurotransmitter activity in your brain. It is usually prescribed as the last resort.
If the person with schizophrenia is having regular fits or seizures, electroconvulsive shock treatment is mandatory. It can immediately calm the person down and provide long-term relief. One session of ECT will reduce the intensity of the disorder for at least 3-6 months. However, it has its side effects and it’s a painful procedure; therefore, it is used at the final stages only.
The Final Word…
Schizophrenia is not your average mental health disorder. It’s severe and thus, you must take it seriously. People with schizophrenia require more care and compassion than anything else in the world.
Therefore, in case any of your loved ones is going through it, you must understand the severity of the situation and be compassionate towards them. Let’s say it’s an essential step! I hope it gets easier, and may the odds remain in your favor. Here’s wishing you a wonderful day ahead!