Schizoaffective Disorder Is a Mental Term Paper

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The exact regimen depends on the type and severity of symptoms, and whether the disorder is of depressive or bipolar type. Medications are usually prescribed to alleviate psychotic symptoms, stabilize mood and treat depression, while psychotherapy can help curb distorted thoughts, teach social skills and diminish social isolation. ("Schizoaffective Disorder," 2006)

Medication: Medications generally include antipsychotic drugs prescribed to alleviate psychotic symptoms, such as delusions, paranoia and hallucinations. Mood-stabilizing medications are prescribed in bipolar disorder, which help to level out the highs and lows of manic depression. Anti-depressants such as citalopram (Celexa), fluoxetine (Prozac) and escitalopram (Lexapro) are normally prescribed for depressive subtype schizoaffective disorder, as they are likely to alleviate feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or sleeplessness and lack of concentration. (Ibid.)

Psychotherapy and Counseling: Although there has been far less research on psychotherapeutic treatments for schizoaffective disorder than in schizophrenia or depression, the available evidence suggests that cognitive behavior therapy, brief psychotherapy, and social skills training do have a beneficial effect on patients of schizoaffective disorder. By building a trusting relationship with the patients, the psychotherapist can help them understand their condition better and make them feel hopeful about their future.

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Family or group therapy treatment has also been found to be effective as people with schizoaffective disorder feel better when they can discuss their problems with others, rather than suffer in isolation. Group therapy helps them to overcome their social isolation (Ibid.).

Outcomes of Treatment: The prognosis for patients with schizoaffective disorder lies somewhere between that of patients with schizophrenia and those with a mood disorder, i.e., the treatment of schizoaffective disorder is more successful than the treatment of schizophrenia but less successful than that of mood disorder alone.

Effective Measurement Tool / How Does One Know if the Treatment is working?

Since schizoaffective disorder covers a wide range of symptoms, it is difficult to devise a single measurement tool for judging the effectiveness of treatment. However, when treatment is started, the "baseline" functions such as the cognitive abilities of the patient, as well as the severity and frequency of psychotic and depressive or manic episodes are noted. These can then be periodically compared with any positive or negative change in the patient, in order to determine whether a particular treatment is working......

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