Living a healthier life with Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a major mental disorder that affects approximately 26 million people worldwide. People with this condition have hallucination (like hearing voices from invisible persons, unusual smell or perception on skin), delusions (like false belief about somebody do harm to them), thought withdrawal, feeling that controlled by others. They may also have sleep disorders, marked unusual behaviour, feelings that are blunted or seem inconsistent to others, speech that is difficult to follow, marked preoccupation with unusual ideas, poor self care, ideas of reference like people on TV talking to them,  persistent feelings of unreality etc.

A national survey done from 2003 to 2005 by National Institute of Mental Health revealed that 6 per thousand adults in Bangladesh are suffering from Schizophrenia. But the awareness and mental health support for these people are very poor in the country.

In order to raise awareness of the illness and focus on recovery, World Mental Health Day which has been observed on October 10, 2014 to shed light on those Living with Schizophrenia — from those who face every day of their lives with it, to their families, friends, doctors and society as a whole.

Schizophrenia is a chronic illness. After getting proper treatment some 25% of people with Schizophrenia do recover fully, a further 25-35% improve considerably and live relatively independent lives, some 20% improve but need extensive support and between 10 and 15% remain unimproved in hospitals. A further 10-15% die prematurely, mostly by suicide.

Like any mental illness, there are some misconceptions in Bangladesh regarding Schizophrenia. A good number of people rush to the spiritual healers and accepted treatment which are devoid of any scientific components like holy water, tabiz and other indigenous methods. Another group of people who are educated and biased by intentional publicity of counselling that excludes rejection of any medication as a part of treatment and go for the talk therapy which has no or little role in the management of Schizophrenia.

Counselling has very effective role in a large group of mental disorders, but in case of Schizophrenia, where the brain has gone to a definite biochemical change — drugs are the prime approach of treatment. Stopping the drugs for Schizophrenic patients for the sake of counselling may create any catastrophe like suicide. So, regular medication is a must for the effective management of Schizophrenia and patients need to attain in occupational therapy which may help them remain functionally active.

The key message of this day was Schizophrenia is a condition which can be managed by appropriate medication with supportive treatment, social care and with doors opening to social inclusion through the ignorance of pre-judging and stigma. We all should have an empathetic view towards patients with mental illness and help build a stronger support system so that everyone can live a healthy and productive life.

The writer is an Assistant Professor, Child Adolescent and Family Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Dhaka.

E-mail: soton73@gmail.com