Mental disorders have been rising in recent years, and the government has tried to establish a program that enables people to tackle these issues. The medical sector has also struggled to provide quality services to patients affected by mental illness. Mental illness depreciates the health status of a person by affecting how people think and perceive the environment. Although it is continual and a database of research that ties to understanding each mental health condition, schizophrenia needs lifetime treatment. Schizophrenia affects how people think, thus creating an illusion or delusion leading to abnormal interpretation of daily events. Medical practitioners encourage patients with symptoms of schizophrenia to get medical assistance as early as possible since it is easier to contain complications and improve the outlook.
The case of a 27-year-old patient with symptoms of schizophrenia depicts how hard it is to live alone while being affected by delusional perceptions of life. The patient can’t live independently since it threatens herself and the people around her. a medical practitioner needs to oppose intervention measures that will stabilize her condition to facilitate independent living. Before exploring the support that would lead to independent living, one must understand how schizophrenia affects people.
Evidence of Schizophrenia
Some of the symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thinking and speech, and abnormal motor behavior. Delusions refer to having falsified beliefs about the realities of life. This leads to a person feeling that they are harassed, and it can occur when a person decides to insult or harm others without cause. Hallucinations mean that the patient hears or sees things that are existential. A patient with schizophrenia lives in fantasy since their life is different from normal people as there are things seen and heard which are not visible to other people. Effective communication is a feature that is paramount during daily activities, but people suffering from schizophrenia lack this as they give answers which are completely unrelated to the questions. People with schizophrenia can structure words that do not make any sense. Abnormal and disorganized motor behavior means that the patient is unpredictable. There is a high prevalence of agitation and irritation, thus making them highly resistive and with excessive movement.
Negative symptoms are a medical term that refers to lacking the ability to function as expected or normally. Schizophrenic patients may neglect personal hygiene and emotions (Sheng et al., 2020). The patient is also highly likely to lose interest in indulging in necessary daily activities. The patient has behavior that corresponds to schizophrenic symptoms, thus the need for intervention practices that will lead to stability.
It is hard for patients with schizophrenia to live alone and cater to their needs since their daily activities get impacted. Going to work and being productive as needed is impossible when a person is unpredictable. It is also a liability for the family which needs to care for and show support to the patient. This means that the patient in the car needs assistance and support, which renders independent living impossible.
Critical Issues
The critical issues facing the patient in the quest to live independently are cognitive skills. Memory attention and problem-solving are critical to living in harmony with others, while daily activities such as personal hygiene should be maintained. The unpredictable nature of the patient, coupled with delusions and hallucinations, makes her a threat to the neighbors. as depicted, the patient is at risk of suicide, thus making it life-threatening to facilitate an independent move. Although there are thoughts about the benefits of living alone, medical practitioners can determine the time when the patient depicts the behavior that would allow her to live alone. There is also a risk factor that relates to the role of the environment contributing to the causation of symptoms. Here, it is possible to realize that there are environmental stressors that increase the prevalence of the occurrence of the symptoms, thus the aspect of causation. If the patient lives alone, there is a risk that the symptoms will continue appearing to the extent that the intervention of authorities will be the solution.
Since people with schizophrenia live in delusions or fantasies, there is an increased likelihood of depression and stress. This may cause a patient to resort to the use of drugs, thus elevating risk in the community. Whenever there is drug abuse among schizophrenic patients, there is a need for medical practitioners to think of how to reduce addiction (Correll et al., 2018). Drug addiction complicates the process of recovery since a therapist would have to deal with two conditions simultaneously. It is easy to focus on one condition at a time to elevate the possibility of recovery.
There Is positivity in achieving progress since the patient has the urge to live alone, yet the symptoms are dragging her from accomplishing her desired goals. That may act as a drive to get the necessary medication and therapy to accomplish her goals. A patient-centered approach in therapy is a crucial practice that elevates the patient’s recognition of treatment through having a positive mental attitude.
Support for successful Transition
There is no cure for the patient, but there are therapies that may help in providing support to reduce the symptoms. The medical practitioner has the mandate to determine the level of infection, thus developing a proper treatment plan. Here, there is a need to use antipsychotic drugs to reduce the occurrence of psychotic symptoms. The other psychological symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, need therapy. The best support strategy to help the patient is talking to her about personal concerns. It is necessary to recommend the indulgence of therapy to him in coping with his social life.
Since the patient is susceptible to losing motivation, she needs to be motivated to seek medical treatment. Also, it is necessary to help her acknowledge that certain abnormal behaviors make her peculiar from other people. Focusing on preventing the occurrence of specified behavior would help her understand what is expected of her. Motivation is a factor that elevates the potential to achieve the desired result (Melle, 2019). By motivating her to achieve necessary changes in her life, there is a sense of accomplishment which facilitates the urge to try again. The result is that she will create the necessary habits and behavior that will help her cope in life. Socialization is also a fundamental aspect that gives her a family of support. Telling her immediate friends about her condition to make them aware of why she needs help would help her feel accommodated.
Role of Social Support
Social support acts as a motivation to help her in achieving desirable results. It is essential for people to feel they are part of a social structure since it makes them aware that there are people who love care. Support groups work in the same way as the support the patient needs. Making pearls aware of the challenges while also making them comprehend anomalies in their lives will have the potential to focus on recovery. The best recommendation to achieve success is for the patient to stick to the medication provided by the medical practitioners while attending support groups and having a family of friends around her.
References
Correll, C. U., Rubio, J. M., & Kane, J. M. (2018). What is the risk‐benefit ratio of long‐term antipsychotic treatment in people with schizophrenia?. World Psychiatry, 17(2), 149-160. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/wps.20516
Melle, I. (2019). Cognition in schizophrenia: a marker of underlying neurodevelopmental problems?. World Psychiatry, 18(2), 164. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502404/
Sheng, W., & Meng, Z. (2020). A systematic study on the application of orem selfself-care theory-supporting education system in care of patients with schizophrenia. Int J Clin Exp Med, 13(7), 5423-5430. https://e-century.us/files/ijcem/13/7/ijcem0111731.pdf
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