About Taking Medications for Schizophrenia
Approximately 100,000 people in the U.S. have a psychosis episode each year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Psychosis is a break with reality where a person may…
Schizophrenia
Pregnancy and Psychotropic Medications
Pregnancy can be a challenging time for women with long-term mental disorders. While mental illness is common among women of childbearing age, it can bring increased difficulties and risks during…
The Memory Palace: A Memoir
We children of schizophrenics are the great secret-keepers, the ones who don’t want you to think anything is wrong (p. 5). Author Mira Bartok has encapsulated in this statement her…
Book Review: Leave of Absence
“It’s okay to feel frustrated for having to deal with this illness, but don’t hate yourself because of it. This illness is only a tiny part of you.” Self-hatred is…
Helpful Hints about Schizophrenia for Family Members & Others
Family and friends of a person with schizophrenia often do their best to support their loved one initially, but over time, may find themselves frustrated by the what seems like…
Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After
In the 1960s, when author Peggy Kennedy grew up, mental illness was a family secret. It was whispered about, handed off to hospitals, restrained, subjected to electroshock therapy and slews…
What’s My Zip Code?
When I first saw this book “What’s My Zip Code?” by David Stringer, it was in download format and I wondered what exactly it would be about because it seemed…
Treating Schizophrenia Successfully
Schizophrenia is a complex and often chronic illness that requires long-term treatment. Medication is the bedrock of managing schizophrenia, said Peter Buckley, MD, a psychiatrist and expert in schizophrenia, and…
Cannabis is linked to schizophrenia in predisposed individuals
Cannabis has long been thought to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. However, the evidence is still not fully conclusive. The first study on schizophrenia and cannabis took place in…
Medications for Schizophrenia
Antipsychotic medications have been available since the mid-1950s. They have greatly improved the outlook for individual patients. These medications reduce the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia and usually allow the patient…
After Her Brain Broke: Helping My Daughter Recover Her Sanity
As mental illness becomes less stigmatized, many individuals are coming out and sharing their experiences with a variety of disorders. The majority of books published on the topic are personal…
Premature Death Rates Rising in Schizophrenia, Bipolar Patients
People with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have a substantially raised risk of premature death, research warns, and the risk seems to be increasing. Attempts have been made in recent years…
Long-Acting Treatments for Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia has long presented treatment challenges for both patients who have the mental illness and the treatment providers who want to help them. Many medications prescribed for schizophrenia have traditionally…
Paranoid Schizophrenia
The defining feature of the paranoid subtype is the presence of auditory hallucinations or prominent delusional thoughts about persecution or conspiracy. However, people with this subtype may be more functional…
Psychosocial Treatments for Schizophrenia
Antipsychotic drugs have proven to be crucial in relieving the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia — hallucinations, delusions, and incoherence — but are not consistent in relieving the behavioral symptoms of…