Schizophrenia
- About schizophrenia
- Schizophrenia videos
- Patient experience videos
- Animation: Schizophrenia and the brain
- Schizophrenia forum
- Living with schizophrenia
- Treatments for schizophrenia: medications
- Tool: Schizophrenia medication tolerability
- Tool: Medication adherence rating scale (MARS)
- Treatments for schizophrenia: lifestyles
About schizophrenia
 | Schizophrenia is a long term mental illness. The disease is characterised by positive and negative symptoms. The positive symptoms are those such as hallucinations and delusions, while negative symptoms include lack of emotion, limited speech and an inability to enjoy any activities. Treatments for schizophrenia include medications, electroconvulsive therapy and psychotherapy. |
Schizophrenia videos
About schizophrenia
 | Psychiatrist Zafar Sharif of Columbia University talks about schizophrenia and the challenges faced by patients with the condition. Watch the video About Schizophrenia. |
Treating schizophrenia
| Psychiatrist Zafar Sharif of Columbia University talks about treatments for schizophrenia. Watch the video Treating Schizophrenia. |
Caring for a loved one with schizophrenia
| Psychiatrist Zafar Sharif of Columbia University talks about caring for a loved one with schizophrenia. Watch the video Caring for a Loved One with Schizophrenia. |
Patient experience videos
Schizophrenia: Seeing, hearing and believing
 | Speaking From Experience: Patients with schizophrenia live with the symptoms. Watch the video Schizophrenia: Seeing, Hearing and Believing. (© Realtime Health) |
Schizophrenia: Treatment and trust
 | Speaking From Experience: Patients with schizophrenia find the right treatment for their condition and discuss the impact of side effects on lifestyle. Watch the video Schizophrenia: Treatment and Trust. (© Realtime Health) |
Schizophrenia animation
Schizophrenia and the brain
 | Schizophrenia has a negative effect on the brain that worsens over time. Watch an animation of brain deficiencies due to schizophrenia over a five year period. |
Schizophrenia forum
 | Visit the discussion forum. Share your experiences with schizophrenia and hear what others have to say. |
Living with schizophrenia
 | People with schizophrenia commonly have disabilities in partner relationships, work roles, social withdrawal, household participation, general interests, self care and social friction. These disabilities are especially common among young and middle aged adults, and occur even in people responding to treatment for psychosis. |
Treatments for schizophrenia: Medications
 | Atypical antipsychotics provide relief from symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions or abnormal behaviour/thought, and also have sedative and tranquillising effects in very disturbed or aggressive patients. They are thought to be better than conventional antipsychotics in treating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. |
Drugs in this category include:
Risperdal Consta (risperidone)
 | Risperdal acts to lessen the amount of dopamine that can link into receptors in the brain, lessening dopamine's effect and reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia. Risperdal also has effects on chemicals such as serotonin, histamine and adrenergic receptors. Risperdal Consta is an extended-release formulation. |
Risperdal Oral (risperidone)
| Risperdal Oral is available in tablet and solution form. |
Invega (paliperidone)
| Paliperidone is a key active metabolite of risperidone and hence acts on the same receptors. Invega (prolonged release) is indicated for the acute and preventative treatment of schizophrenia. |
Zyprexa (olanzapine)
| Zyprexa is used to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and related psychoses. It is also a mood stabiliser that prevents further occurrences of the disabling high and low extremes of mood associated with bipolar I disorder. |
Seroquel (quetiapine)
| Quetiapine antagonises serotonin and dopamine receptors in the brain, resulting in antipsychotic effects. |
 | Conventional antipsychotics provide relief from symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions or abnormal behaviour/thought. All conventional antipsychotics are thought to be equally effective when taken at an appropriate dose. Conventional antipsychotics reliably improve positive schizophrenia symptoms and reduce relapse rates after an acute episode. |
Tool: Schizophrenia medication tolerability
Schizophrenia Medication Tolerability Tool
This tolerability tool is based on a self-rating scale designed by Waddell and Taylor1 to assess if you are experiencing undesirable side effects from your antipsychotic medication.
Schizophrenia Medication Tolerability Tool
This tolerability tool is based on a self-rating scale designed by Waddell and Taylor1 to assess if you are experiencing undesirable side effects from your antipsychotic medication.
| Over the past week have you | Never | Once | A few times | Everyday | Tick this box if distressing |
 | |||||
| Felt sleepy during the day | |||||
| Felt drugged or like a zombie | |||||
| Felt dizzy on standing and/or fainted | |||||
| Felt that you heart was beating irregularly or unusually fast | |||||
| Had tense or jerky muscles | |||||
| Had shaky hands or arms | |||||
| Had restless legs and/or couldn´t sit still | |||||
| Been drooling | |||||
| Noticed your movements or walking being slower than usual | |||||
| Had, or people have noticed uncontrollable movements of your face and/or body | |||||
| Had blurry vision | |||||
| Had a dry mouth | |||||
| Had difficulty passing urine | |||||
| Felt like you were going to be sick or have vomited | |||||
| Wet the bed | |||||
| Been thirsty and/or passing urine frequently | |||||
| Had sore/swollen areas around your nipples | |||||
| Noticed fluid coming from your nipples | |||||
| Had problems enjoying sex | |||||
| Had problems getting an erection | |||||
| |||||
| In the last 3 months have you noticed | No | Yes | Tick this box if distressing | ||
| |||||
| Weight gain | |||||
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Results
You may be experiencing side effects from your current medication. It would be advisable to discuss this with your GP or psychiatrist to discuss your medication options. Medicating with minimal side effects is optimal to ensure correct use and prevention of relapse.
You are experiencing what may be side effects from your current medication. You should discuss this with your GP or psychiatrist to discuss your medication options. Medicating with minimal side effects is optimal to ensure correct use and prevention of relapse.
You are experiencing what may be side effects from your current medication. Discuss this with your GP or psychiatrist to discuss your medication options. Medicating with minimal side effects is optimal to ensure correct use and prevention of relapse.
It seems that one or more of the side effects you are experiencing is distressing you. You may like to discuss this with your doctor to see if there are any other medications and/or doses that better suit your situation.
Waddell L, Taylor M. A new self-rating scale for detecting atypical or second-generation antipsychotic side effects. J Psychopharmacol 2008; 22: 238-243.
This information will be collected for educational purposes, however it will remain anonymous.
Tool: Medication adherence rating scale (MARS)
This information will be collected for educational purposes, however it will remain anonymous.
Treatments for schizophrenia: Lifestyles
 | Psychotherapy is a confiding interaction between a person suffering a psychological or mental disorder and a trained professional, usually a psychologist, aiming to improve an impaired psychological state. All psychotherapies are derived from three main bases of psychotherapy: cognitive, behavioural and psychoanalytical. |
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
 | CBT is a relatively short-term form of psychotherapy that can be used for the treatment of a wide range of psychological disorders, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse and personality disorders. It can also be used to help people change their lifestyles. It focuses on working on the 'incorrect beliefs' that people have. |
 | Social skills training is a type of psychotherapy that works to help people improve their social skills so they can become socially competent. SST is predominantly a behavioural therapy but, cognitive therapy can also be used in some situations to maximise the success of SST. This psychotherapy can be done one on one with the psychologist or in a group situation. |
 | Family therapy can be defined as any psychological treatment that focuses on changing the way family members interact in order to improve the functioning of the family as a unit and the functioning of individuals in the family. |
Mini Sites Dates:
 Created: 17/2/2009
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Modified: 23/7/2009
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