SCHIZOPHRENIA AND ITS TREATMENT

Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by delusions, hallucinations, unorganized behavior, negative symptoms, and social dysfunction. Treatment of schizophrenic patients includes pharmacological and psychosocial treatments. Although antipsychotic drugs constitute the basis of pharmacological treatment, research dealing with schizophrenia has shown that psychosocial approaches accelerate clinical improvement. Psychosocial approaches should be supported and integrated with drug therapy. Most schizophrenia patients benefit from the approaches in combination of antipsychotics and psychosocial treatment. Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a difference in gender, the most frequent age range is 15-25 years for males while 25-35 years for females and schizophrenia is more frequent in families with low socioeconomic status. In etiological studies, schizophrenia has been explained by genetic factors, brain structural changes, neurochemical changes, neurophysiological changes and endocrinal factors. It has been suggested that 4 basic symptoms of schizophrenia are association, ambivalence, autism (autism) and affection. Schizophrenia is divided into five subtypes as paranoid, disorganized, catatonic, undifferentiated and residual by considering clinical results. Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that affects patients' daily lives. The goal of the treatment is to reduce or eliminate the symptoms, increase the quality of life and make life adaptable to the patient and reduce the destructive effects of the disease as much as possible