When we have problems with our eyesight – we go to an ophthalmologist, when our back hurts we sign up to a physiotherapist. We also like to talk about health – at work or at meetings with friends. There is one exception – mental health. Experts remind: a psychiatrist is a helping hand, and mental diseases – even the most stigmatizing ones, such as schizophrenia, can be properly treated, give a chance for a normal life. On October 10, we celebrate World Mental Health Day.
In the public debate on health, there are taboos and topics that are not discussed. One of them is mental diseases, including schizophrenia, and especially the social drama of this disease. The model of care for people with schizophrenia functioning in Poland, limited to hospitalization and the lack of developed community care, mean that the greatest burden of care for patients rests on relatives and family.
– For years, we have been pointing to the necessary systemic changes – the dissemination of the environmental model of psychiatric health care, where staff with different competences will treat and help patients suffering from schizophrenia in a familiar and close environment – says Prof. dr hab. n. med. Agata Szulc, President of the Polish Psychiatric Association.
A life without relapses is possible
World Mental Health Day is a great opportunity to consider whether we can improve the situation of people with schizophrenia and their relatives. How to “keep” them in society? How can we bring them back to life from before the disease? Is such a return possible? Experts agree that it is.
– Schizofrenia jest chorobą przewlekłą, przebiegającą z okresami nawrotów, zaostrzeń objawów i remisji. Jednak przy odpowiednim leczeniu i wsparciu pacjent może pełnić różne role społeczne, w rodzinie, może pracować. Leczenie jest długotrwałe, nierzadko trwa latami, ale jeśli rozpoczęte jest we wczesnym okresie rozwoju choroby – pozwala na szybki powrót pacjenta do dobrego funkcjonowania i «zatrzymanie» go w swoim środowisku i społeczeństwie – mówi dr Marek Balicki, były minister zdrowia, kierownik Centrum Zdrowia Psychicznego przy Szpitalu Wolskim w Warszawie.
– It is important not only when the therapy is started, but also to ensure that the drug is taken continuously. With help come, among others long-acting treatment (LAT), thanks to which the treatment method is simplified, and the caregivers are not obliged to remind about the drug. Community care is also important, and therefore ensuring proper care for patients, as close to their place of residence as possible. An important step in getting us to heal properly and in the best possible way is also social acceptance and understanding that mental illness is an illness like any other. It is a disease that requires treatment and the help of a psychiatrist – adds prof. Agata Szulc.
“Life without relapses” is the message of the ongoing educational and information campaign dedicated to schizophrenia, but also one of the basic needs of people struggling with this disease. It is also a positive manifesto to show that living with schizophrenia is possible even when our “inner voice” stands against us.
1 percent society is invisible to others
In Poland, 385 people suffer from schizophrenia – this is 1 percent. society. Half of the patients remain undiagnosed and do not receive proper treatment. Schizophrenia is a disease of young people who, at the time of diagnosis, are usually 25–35 years old, are just entering adulthood, want to learn, work, and pursue their dreams. Meanwhile, mental illness disrupts their functioning in social and professional life, makes them lose the ability to think clearly, maintain relationships with others and withdraw from their current life. Schizophrenia leaves an imprint not only on the patient’s life, but also on his relatives, who become so-called “Silent patients” and often need the help of specialists themselves. There are already long-acting drugs in the world, administered to patients with schizophrenia only four times a year. They enable normal functioning, including patients and their relatives from professional and social life.