Treatment of schizophrenia: 10 modern methods, a list of drugs and drugs

Principles of treatment of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder (and according to the modern classification of ICD-10 – a group of disorders) with a chronic course, provoking the breakdown of emotional reactions and thought processes. It is impossible to cure it completely. Nevertheless, as a result of long-term therapy, it is possible to restore a person’s social activity and ability to work, prevent psychosis, and achieve stable remission.

The treatment of schizophrenia traditionally consists of three stages:

• Stop therapy – therapy to relieve psychosis. The goal of this stage of treatment is to suppress the positive symptoms of schizophrenia – delusions, hebephrenia, catatonia, hallucinations;

• Stabilization Therapy – is used to maintain the results of cupping therapy, its task is to finally remove the positive symptoms of all kinds;

• Supportive therapy – is aimed at maintaining a stable state of the patient’s psyche, preventing relapse, the maximum distance in time for the next psychosis.

Stopping therapy should be given as early as possible; it is necessary to contact a specialist as soon as the first signs of psychosis appear, since it is much more difficult to stop an already developed psychosis. In addition, psychosis can cause personality changes that make it impossible for a person to work and carry out normal daily activities. In order for the changes to be less pronounced, and the patient to have the opportunity to lead a normal life, it is necessary to stop the attack in a timely manner.

Currently, the following methods of therapy for schizophrenic conditions have been developed, tested and widely used: psychopharmacology, various types of shock-coma therapy, high-tech stem cell therapy, traditional psychotherapy, cytokine treatment and detoxification of the body.

Inpatient treatment is necessary immediately at the time of psychosis, and after the arrest of the attack, stabilizing and supportive therapy can be carried out on an outpatient basis. A patient who has undergone treatment and has been in remission for a long time still needs to undergo an annual examination and be admitted to inpatient treatment in order to correct possible pathological changes.

Actually, the time for a full-fledged treatment of schizophrenia after another psychosis is one year or longer. From 4 to 10 weeks it takes to stop the attack and suppress productive symptoms, after which, to stabilize the results, six months of intensive care in the hospital and 5-8 months of outpatient treatment are needed to prevent relapse, achieve a fairly stable remission and conduct social rehabilitation of the patient.

Treatment options for schizophrenia

Methods for the treatment of schizophrenia are divided into two groups – biological methods and psychosocial therapy:

• Psychosocial Therapy includes cognitive behavioral therapy, psychotherapy and family therapy. These techniques, although they do not give instant results, can prolong the period of remission, increase the effectiveness of biological methods, and return a person to a normal life in society. Psychosocial therapy allows you to reduce the dosage of drugs and the length of stay in the hospital, makes a person able to independently perform daily tasks and control his condition, which reduces the likelihood of relapse;

• Biological treatments – lateral, insulin-comatose, pair-polarization, electroconvulsive therapy, detoxification, transcranial micropolarization and magnetic brain stimulation, as well as psychopharmacology and surgical methods of treatment;

• The use of drugs, affecting the brain – one of the most effective biological methods for the treatment of schizophrenia, which allows you to remove productive symptoms, prevent the destruction of the personality, impaired thinking, will, memory and emotions.

Modern treatment of schizophrenia during an attack

During a psychosis or an attack of schizophrenia, it is necessary to take all measures for its speedy relief. Atypical antipsychotics belong to neuroleptics, these are modern drugs that allow not only to remove productive symptoms (auditory or visual hallucinations and delusions), but also reduce possible violations of speech, memory, emotions, will and other mental functions, thereby minimizing the risk of destruction of the patient’s personality.

Drugs of this group are prescribed not only to patients at the stage of psychosis, but are also used to prevent relapses. Atypical antipsychotics are effective when the patient is allergic to other antipsychotics.

The effectiveness of cupping therapy depends on such factors:

• Duration of illness – with a duration of up to three years, the patient has a high chance of successful treatment with a long period of remission. Cupping therapy removes psychosis, and a relapse of the disease with properly administered stabilizing and anti-relapse treatment may not occur until the end of life. If the patient’s schizophrenia lasts from three to ten or more years, then the effectiveness of therapy decreases;

• Patient age – schizophrenia in later life is easier to treat than adolescent schizophrenia;

• Onset and course of psychotic disorder – an acute attack of the disease with a vivid course, which is characterized by strong emotional manifestations, pronounced affects (phobias, manic, depressive, anxiety states) responds well to treatment;

• Patient personality warehouse – if before the first psychosis the patient had a harmonious and balanced personality, the chances of successful treatment are greater than in people with infantilism and underdevelopment of intelligence before the onset of schizophrenia;

• Cause of exacerbation of schizophrenia – if the attack was caused by exogenous factors (stress from the loss of loved ones or overstrain at work, in preparation for an exam or competition), then the treatment is quick and effective. If the exacerbation of schizophrenia occurred spontaneously for no apparent reason, then the relief of the attack is more difficult;

• The nature of the disorder – with pronounced negative symptoms of the disease (impaired thinking, emotional perception, volitional qualities, memory and concentration), the treatment takes longer, its effectiveness is reduced.

Treatment of psychotic disorder (delusions, hallucinations, illusions and other productive symptoms)

Psychotic disorders are treated with antipsychotic drugs, which are divided into two groups: conventional antipsychotics and more modern atypical antipsychotics. The choice of the drug is made on the basis of the clinical picture, conventional antipsychotics are used if atypical antipsychotics are ineffective.

• Olanzapine – a potent antipsychotic that can be prescribed to all patients with schizophrenia during an attack.

• The activating antipsychotic Risperidone and Amisulpride prescribed for psychosis, during which delusions and hallucinations alternate with negative symptoms and depression.

• Quetiapine prescribed if the patient during psychosis has increased excitability, broken speech, delirium and hallucinations with strong psychomotor agitation.

• Conventional or classical antipsychotics prescribed for complex forms of schizophrenia – catatonic, undifferentiated and hebephrenic. They are used to treat protracted psychosis if treatment with the atypical antipsychotics listed above has failed.

• Trisedyl is prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia..

• Mazheptil is used to treat catatonic and hebephrenic forms.

If these drugs turned out to be ineffective, then the patient is prescribed antipsychotics with selective action, one of the first drugs in this group is Haloperidol. It removes the productive symptoms of psychosis – delirium, automatism of movements, psychomotor agitation, verbal hallucinations. However, its side effects with long-term use include a neurological syndrome, which is manifested by stiffness in the muscles and trembling in the limbs. To prevent these phenomena, doctors prescribe Cyclodol or other corrective drugs.

For the treatment of paranoid schizophrenia use:

• Meterazine – if the attack is accompanied by systematized delirium;

• Tryphtazine – with unsystematized delirium during psychosis;

• Fashionable – with pronounced negative symptoms with impaired speech, mental activity, emotions and will.

Atypical antipsychotics, which combine the properties of atypical and conventional drugs – Piportil and Clozapine.

Treatment with neuroleptics occurs 4-8 weeks from the onset of the attack, after which the patient is transferred to stabilizing therapy with maintenance doses of the drug, or the drug is changed to another, with a milder effect. Additionally, drugs that relieve psychomotor agitation may be prescribed.

Reducing the emotional saturation of experiences associated with delusions and hallucinations

Antipsychotic drugs are given for two to three days after the onset of symptoms, the choice depends on the clinical picture, with the introduction of Diazepam intravenously combined:

• Quetiapine – prescribed to patients who have pronounced manic arousal;

• Clopixone – prescribed for the treatment of psychomotor agitation, which is accompanied by anger and aggression; can be used to treat alcoholic psychosis, schizophrenia in people who are in a state of withdrawal after taking alcohol or drugs;

• Clopixol-Akuphaz – a prolonged form of the drug, is prescribed if the patient is not able to take the medicine regularly.

If the above antipsychotics were ineffective, the doctor prescribes conventional neuroleptics with a sedative effect. The course of admission is 10-12 days, such a duration is necessary to stabilize the patient’s condition after an attack.

Conventional neuroleptics with a sedative effect include:

• Aminazine – prescribed for aggressive manifestations and anger during an attack;

• Tizercin – if the clinical picture is dominated by anxiety, restlessness and confusion;

• Melperone, Propazine, Chlorprothixene – prescribed to patients over the age of 60 or people with diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys and liver.

Antipsychotic drugs are used to treat psychomotor agitation. To reduce the degree of the patient’s emotional experiences caused by auditory, verbal or visual hallucinations and delusions, antidepressants and mood stabilizers are additionally prescribed. These drugs should be taken in the future as part of maintenance anti-relapse therapy, since they not only alleviate the subjective state of the patient and correct his mental disorders, but also allow him to quickly get involved in normal life.

Treatment of the depressive component in emotional disorders

The depressive component of a psychotic episode is removed with the help of antidepressants.

Among antidepressants for the treatment of the depressive component of schizophrenia, a group of serotonin reuptake inhibitors is distinguished. Venlafaxine and Ixel are most often prescribed. Venlafaxine removes anxiety, and Ixel successfully copes with the dreary component of depression. Cipralex combines both of these actions.

Heterocyclic antidepressants are used as second-line drugs with low efficacy of the above drugs. Their action is more powerful, but patient tolerance is worse. Amitriptyline relieves anxiety, Melipramine removes the dreary component, and Clomipramine successfully copes with any manifestations of depression.

Treatment of the manic component in emotional disorders

The manic component helps to remove the combination of neuroleptics with mood stabilizers, both during a psychotic episode and later in anti-relapse therapy. The drugs of choice in this case are normotimics Valprocom and Depakine, which quickly and effectively eliminate manic manifestations. If the manic symptom is mild, Lamotrigine is prescribed – it has a minimum of side effects and is well tolerated by patients.

Lithium salts are most effective in the treatment of the manic component of emotional disorders, but they should be used with caution, since they interact poorly with classical antipsychotics.

Treatment of drug-resistant psychosis

Pharmaceutical drugs are not always effective in treating schizophrenia. Then they talk about human resistance to drugs, similar to the resistance to antibiotics produced in bacteria with their constant influence.

In this case, it remains to resort to intensive methods of influence:

1. Electroconvulsive therapy – is carried out in a short course, at the same time as taking antipsychotics. For the use of electroconvulsions, the patient is given general anesthesia, due to which the complexity of the procedure becomes similar to surgical operations. Such extreme treatment usually provokes a variety of cognitive impairments: attention, memory, conscious analysis and information processing. These effects are present when using bilateral electroconvulsions, but there is also a unilateral version of the therapy, which is more gentle on the nervous system.

2. Insulin shock therapy – an intense biological effect exerted on the patient’s body by huge doses of insulin, which causes a hypoglycemic coma. It is prescribed in the absence of any result from the use of drugs. Intolerance to pharmaceuticals is an absolute indication for the use of this method. The so-called insulin-comatose therapy, invented back in 1933, is used to this day for the treatment of episodic or continuous paranoid schizophrenia. The unfavorable dynamics of the course of the disease is an additional reason for prescribing insulin shock therapy. When sensory delusions become interpretive, and anxiety, mania, and absent-mindedness are replaced by suspicion and uncontrollable malice, the doctor tends to use this method. The procedure is carried out without interrupting the course of neuroleptic drugs.

   There are currently three options for using insulin to treat schizophrenia:

   • Traditional – subcutaneous administration of the active substance, is carried out in a course with a regular (most often daily) increase in doses until a coma is provoked. The effectiveness of this approach is the highest;

   • Forced – Insulin is administered via a drip to achieve the maximum concentration in one daily infusion. This method of inducing hypoglycemic coma allows the body to endure the procedure with the least harmful consequences;

   • Potentiated – involves the implementation of insulin coma therapy against the background of lateral physiotherapy, which is carried out by stimulating the skin with electricity in those places where the nerves pass to the cerebral hemispheres. The introduction of insulin is possible both in the first and in the second way. Thanks to physiotherapy, it is possible to shorten the course of treatment and focus the effect of the procedure on the manifestations of hallucinations and delusions.

3. Hypothermia craniocerebral – a specific method that is used in toxicology and narcology mainly for the relief of severe forms of the “withdrawal” state. The procedure consists in a gradual decrease in the temperature of the brain to form neuroprotection in nerve cells. There is evidence of the efficiency of the method in the treatment of catatonic schizophrenia. It is especially recommended because of the episodic resistance of this type of pathology to medicines.

4. Lateral Therapy – a method of severe relief of psychomotor, hallucinogenic, manic and depressive excitations. It consists in conducting electroanalgesia of a certain area of ​​the cerebral cortex. Exposure to electricity “reboots” neurons, much like a computer turns on after a power failure. Thus, previously formed pathological connections are broken, due to which a therapeutic effect is achieved.

5. Detoxification – a fairly rare decision made to compensate for the side effects of taking heavy drugs such as antipsychotics. It is most often used for complications due to the use of antipsychotics, allergies to similar drugs, resistance or poor susceptibility to drugs. Detoxification consists in carrying out the procedure of hemosorption.

Sorption is carried out with activated carbon or ion-exchange resins, which are capable of specifically absorbing and neutralizing chemical components that remain in the blood after taking heavy medications. Hemosorption is carried out in several stages, which increases the sensitivity to drugs prescribed after this procedure.

If there is a prolonged course of psychosis or extrapyramidal disorders, such as impaired coordination and parkinsonism, arising from long courses of conventional antipsychotics, plasmapheresis is prescribed (blood sampling with subsequent removal of its liquid part – plasma containing harmful toxins and metabolites). As during hemosorption, any previously prescribed pharmaceuticals are canceled in order to restart a milder course with a lower dosage or a radical change in the drugs used after plasmapheresis.

Stabilizing treatment for schizophrenia

It is necessary to stabilize the patient’s condition within 3 to 9 months from the moment of complete healing from bouts of schizophrenia. First of all, during the stabilization of the patient, it is necessary to achieve the cessation of hallucinations, delusions, manic and depressive symptoms. In addition, in the course of treatment, it is necessary to restore the full functionality of the patient, close to his state before the attack.

Stabilization treatment is completed only when remission is achieved, followed by maintenance therapy against relapses.

The drugs of choice are mainly Amisulpride, Quetiapine and Risperidone. They are used in low dosages to mildly correct such symptoms of schizophrenia as apathy, anhedonia, speech disorders, lack of motivation and will.

Other drugs have to be used if a person cannot constantly take antipsychotics on his own, and his family cannot control this. Long-acting drugs can be taken once a week, these include Clopixol-Depot, Rispolept-Konsta and Fluanxol-Depot.

With symptoms of a neurosis-like nature, including phobias and increased anxiety, Fluanxol-Depot is taken, while Clopixol-Depot helps with hypersensitivity, irritability and manic symptoms. Rispolept-Konsta can remove residual hallucinations and delusions.

Conventional antipsychotics are prescribed as a last resort, if all of the above drugs do not cope with the task.

In stabilizing treatment, apply:

• Haloperidol – used if the attack is stopped poorly and not completely, the drug removes residual psychotic phenomena to increase the stability of remission. Assign Haloperidol with caution, as it can provoke extrapyramidal disorders, neurological syndrome. Be sure to combine with corrective preparations;

• Tryphtazine – used to treat episodic paranoid schizophrenia;

• Moditen-Depot – removes residual hallucinatory symptoms;

• Piportil – used to treat paranoid or catatonic schizophrenia.

Maintenance (anti-relapse) treatment of schizophrenia

Maintenance treatment is necessary to prevent recurrence of the disease. With a good combination of various circumstances, this type of therapy results in a significant prolongation of remission and partial or even complete restoration of the patient’s social functions. Drugs prescribed during anti-relapse treatment are able to correct the disturbances in memory, will, too strong emotional susceptibility and thought processes that are caused by the state of psychotic disorder.

The course of treatment is usually two years, if the psychotic episode occurred for the first time. After its repetition, anti-relapse therapy should last at least five years. Rarely, but it comes to the point that psychosis happens for the third time. In this case, treatment has to be continued until the end of life, otherwise a relapse is inevitable.

The list of drugs used for maintenance therapy includes the same antipsychotics as in the treatment of seizures, but in a much lower dosage – no more than a third of the amount required for the traditional relief of psychosis.

Non-drug drug treatment

Risperidone, Quetiapine, Amisulpride and other atypical antipsychotics can be distinguished among the most effective drugs for maintenance anti-relapse therapy. With a decrease in individual sensitivity to active substances, in addition to the above drugs, Sertindol may be prescribed.

When even atypical antipsychotics do not bring the desired effect, and it is not possible to stabilize the patient’s condition with an extension of remission, conventional antipsychotic drugs are used: Piportil, Moditen-Depot, Haloperidol, Triftazin.

Long-acting (depot) forms of drugs may be prescribed if the patient fails to take drugs regularly, and his caregivers cannot control this. Deposition of Fluanxol-Depot, Clopixol-Depot and Rispolept-Konsta is carried out by intramuscular or subcutaneous injection once a week.

Another group of pharmaceuticals used in anti-relapse therapy is mood stabilizers, which demonstrate a fairly high efficiency in the treatment of sluggish type schizophrenia. With cognitive disorders such as panic attacks and depressive states, Valprok and Depakine are prescribed. Lithium salts, Lamotrigine help relieve passive disorders – anxiety and melancholy mood, and Carbamazepine is indicated for patients with a tendency to irritable behavior and aggression.

Non-drug methods of anti-relapse therapy

• Lateral physiotherapy used to enhance the effectiveness of drug treatment. The method consists in electrical action on skin areas, regulated by the right or left hemisphere of the brain.

• Lateral phototherapy successfully used to treat a wide variety of phobias, increased or decreased sensitivity, anxiety, paranoia and other symptoms of neurosis. During the phototherapy procedure, the right and left parts of the retina are alternately exposed to light pulses, the frequency of which determines the stimulating or calming effect.

• Intravascular laser irradiation – blood purification using a special laser device. It is able to increase sensitivity to medications, which reduces their required dosage and minimizes side effects.

• Parnopolarization therapy a procedure for correcting disturbances in the emotional sphere by applying electricity to the surface of the cerebral cortex.

• Transcranial micropolarization is a method of selective influence on brain structures by means of an electric field, which allows to remove hallucinations and residual effects at the stage of remission.

• Transcranial magnetic stimulation – this type of impact on brain structures allows you to relieve depression; in this case, the influence on the brain occurs through a constant magnetic field;

• Enterosorption. Like intravascular laser irradiation, this type of exposure is aimed at increasing the body’s sensitivity to drugs in order to reduce their dose required to achieve a therapeutic effect. It is a course of sorbent preparations taken orally, including activated charcoal, Enterosgel, Filtrum, Polyphepan, Smecta. Sorbents are used due to the ability to bind various toxins to remove them from the body in an organic way.

• Immunomodulators – have a complex effect on the body, allowing not only to improve the effectiveness of immunity, which helps a person to regenerate after damage caused by an attack, but also to increase sensitivity to neuroleptic drugs.

In complex therapy, various immunomodulatory agents are used:

1. Echinacea.

2. Rhodiola rosea.

3. Timogen.

4. Splenin.

5. Timalin.

6. Erbisol.

7. Sodium nucleinate.

Psychosocial Therapy

This type of post-remission therapy is carried out after the complete relief of the attack and is necessary for the social rehabilitation of a still sick person, restoring his cognitive abilities and teaching the skills of self-control of the disease.

Important components of psychosocial therapy are not only social, but also labor rehabilitation of the patient. For this, so-called family therapy is used: close relatives or guardians of the patient are taught the rules of careful behavior with the patient. Thanks to this, it is possible to place him at home with free rules of movement and residence. The patient is informed about the importance of taking medications regularly, but they form an understanding of personal responsibility for their health. In a calm and friendly environment, patients recover faster after attacks, their mental state stabilizes, and the chances of a stable remission increase significantly. Interpersonal contacts with friendly people accelerate the recovery of the patient’s social activity.

In addition, a psychotherapist can help a person solve personal problems, cope with neuroses and depressive states, which prevents a new attack.

Another component of psychosocial adaptation is cognitive-behavioral treatment, during which a person restores his mental abilities (memory, thinking, ability to concentrate) to the extent that is necessary for normal functioning in society.

The results of magnetic resonance imaging after a course of psychosocial therapy prove the effectiveness of this technique for the post-remission cure of schizophrenia.

Traditional drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia

Antipsychotic drugs directly affect the factors that cause the development of schizophrenia, which is why their use is so effective.

At the moment, existing antipsychotics are divided into the following groups:

• Atypical neuroleptics – Clozapine, Amisulpride, Risperidone, Quetiapine Olanzapine;

• Newest generation antipsychotics (atypical) – Aripiprazole, Ipoperidal, Sertindole, Blonanserin, Ziprasidone;

• Sedative antipsychotic drugs with a sedative effect: Chlorpromazine, Levomepromazine, Propazine, Truxal, Sultopride;

• Incisive antipsychotic drugs that can activate the central nervous system: Hypothiazine, Haloperidol, Clopixol, Prochlorperazine, Thioproperazine, Trifluoperazine, Fluphenazine;

• Disorganizing antipsychotic drugs that have a disinhibitory effect: Sulpiride, Carbidine.

In addition to neuroleptics, other medications are also used in the treatment of schizophrenia of various symptoms:

• Antidepressants relieve the patient’s condition with anxiety, anxiety and fear: Amitriptyline, Pirlindol, Moclobemide;

• Nootropics that help enhance cognitive function and restore memory, thinking, attention and concentration: Deanol aceglumate, Pantogam, hopantenic acid;

• Tranquilizers are used to relieve anxiety: Phenazepam, Bromazepam, Chlordiazepoxide, Diazepam;

• Psychostimulants: Mesocarb;

• Drugs-normotimics help to gain control over emotional manifestations: Carbamazepine.

New drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia

Classical antipsychotics, despite their effectiveness in relieving schizophrenia attacks and in further stabilizing and maintenance therapy, have a number of disadvantages and side effects. Because of this, their use has to be limited, to observe the minimum dosage necessary to achieve a therapeutic effect, and to combine them with corrective drugs.

Side effects and disadvantages of conventional antipsychotics:

• Extrapyramidal damage – dystonia, akathisia, tardive dyskinesia, neuroleptic syndrome;

• Somatic disorders – hormonal imbalance, due to which the level of prolactin in the blood increases, which leads to the development of gynecomastia, dysmenorrhea, galactorrhea, sexual activity disorders;

• drug depression;

• Allergic reactions of a toxicological nature.

The strength of action of new generation antipsychotic drugs is comparable to the effect of classical antipsychotics, but at the same time they have a much higher speed of onset of the effect. And some of the new drugs, such as risperidone and olanzapine, are even better at reducing delusions and hallucinations than the first antipsychotics.

Risperidone is effectively used in the clinical practice of borderline conditions – hypochondriacal disorders, depersonalization, which is often observed in sluggish schizophrenia. It successfully copes with social phobia and agoraphobia, relieves anxiety, which underlies the mechanism of development of obsessions and phobic disorders.

Antipsychotics of the new generation normalize the neurotransmitter balance, thereby providing the maximum clinical and pharmacological effect in the treatment of schizophrenia. They selectively act on dopamine, serotonin and other types of receptors in brain structures, which ensures not only the success of treatment, but also its safety for the patient. In addition, new antipsychotics, in particular risperidone, are the drugs of choice in the treatment of schizophrenia attacks in the elderly, who are at increased risk of complications due to extrapyramidal disorders and impaired cognitive function.

For the treatment of schizophrenia, such drugs from a new generation of pharmaceuticals can now be used:

• Aripiprazole;

• Blonanserin;

• Ziprasidone;

• Hypoperidal;

• Sertindol.

They also include first-generation atypical antipsychotics such as quetiapine, risperidone, and olanzapine.

A tangible advantage of modern neuroleptics is good tolerance by patients, a minimum of side effects, a reduced risk of drug depression and cognitive and motor impairments. New antipsychotic drugs not only cope well with delusional disorders and hallucinations, but also remove negative schizophrenic symptoms – disorders of memory, speech and thinking.

Characteristics of some alternative treatments for schizophrenia

For the treatment of schizophrenia in specialized clinics, many procedures and therapeutic techniques developed at different times are used, which, although not included in the general list of international standards, are often quite effective, prolonging remission and improving the patient’s quality of life.

Treatment with cytokines

This is a kind of drug treatment of schizophrenia, which does not use substances that affect the central nervous system (like antipsychotics), but drugs that improve the functioning of the immune system and stimulate regeneration processes in the body – cytokines.

Cytokines are administered as injections or inhalations, the course of treatment with injections is usually five days, inhalations are done daily for ten days, then every three days for 3 months. Cytokines for intramuscular injections called anti-TNF-alpha and anti-IFN-gamma effectively restore damaged areas of the brain and provide stable remission.

Treatment with stem cells

The cause of schizophrenia can be pathologies or death of hippocampal cells, so stem cell treatment gives good results in the treatment of the disease. Stem cells are injected into the hippocampus, where they replace dead structures and stimulate their regeneration. Such treatment is carried out only after the final relief of the attack with the stabilization of the patient’s condition and can significantly prolong the remission.

Treatment by communication

Communication with an experienced specialist can give good results:

• To increase the social adaptation of the patient;

• To form in him the correct perception of the disease;

• Practice self-control skills.

Such treatment is used during the period of remission in order to prolong it. Therapy gives results only if the personality has not undergone significant changes during the course of the disease, and the patient does not have schizophrenic dementia.

Hypnosis treatment

Hypnosis is a form of communication therapy. During the period of remission, the doctor begins a conversation with the patient when he is in the most suggestible state, or introduces him into this state artificially, after which he gives him a setting, forming the skills necessary for a person to independently control the disease.

Treatment of schizophrenia at home

Hospitalization is necessary for the patient only during a psychotic episode, therapy continues until the condition stabilizes (on average, this takes about 4-8 weeks). When the episode passes, the patient continues outpatient treatment, provided that he has relatives or guardians who will monitor compliance with the doctor’s instructions.

If the patient refuses to take medication and follow the treatment regimen, becomes irritable and shows unusual features for him, he should be taken to the doctor, change the form of the drug to a prolonged one. At the same time, the medication is required only once a week and does not require control by the patient, since it occurs under the supervision of a specialist.

Unusual behavior of the patient may be a sign of impending psychosis, you should immediately consult a doctor.

Rules of behavior with a patient with schizophrenia on the eve of a psychotic attack:

• Avoid command and imperative tone, irritation and rudeness when communicating;

• Minimize factors that can cause arousal or a strong emotional reaction of the patient;

• Avoid threats, blackmail and promises of bad consequences if a person does not obey you and violates any order;

• Speech should be even, calm and, if possible, quiet and measured;

• It is necessary to avoid criticism of the patient’s behavior and disputes both with him and with other people in his presence;

• Stand opposite the patient so that your face is at the level of his eyes, and not above;

• Do not leave a schizophrenic in a closed room, if possible, fulfill his requests, if they do not harm him and others.

Treatment prognosis

• In 24% of cases the treatment of schizophrenia is successful and the person recovers completely, that is, the rest of his life goes into remission and psychosis no longer occurs.

• 30% of patients after treatment, they feel a significant improvement in their condition, they can take care of themselves, do housework and engage in simple activities without unnecessary mental and emotional stress. Relapse of the disease is possible.

• In 20% of cases after treatment, tangible improvements do not occur, a person is incapable of even primitive activities, needs constant care and supervision from relatives or doctors. Periodically, attacks are repeated, and hospitalization is required.

• In 10-15% of cases schizophrenia becomes the cause of death of a person, since in a state of psychosis, approximately 50% of people try to commit suicide.

Favorable treatment of schizophrenia depends on prompt medical attention. Schizophrenia, the manifest form of which came at a late age, is best cured. Short bright and emotional attacks respond well to drug treatment, while the likelihood of a long remission is high.