According the statistics about 2 percent of the population suffer from schizophrenia and no doubt it is a horrible disease of the brain. It is the worst mental disorder often rendering the patient psychotic and out of touch with reality. Over 2 and a half million people are walking around with this disease and they are not all locked away in mental hospitals. In fact, a lot of them are fully functional and working in productive jobs and getting on with their lives. If you look at the current statistics most of it will say that success stories represent maybe 15 to 20 percent of the schizophrenic population; however, there is new research suggesting that if psychotherapy is applied to the regular drug treatment the success rates can jump up to roughly 68 percent.

We do have some wonderful examples of extremely intelligent and highly creative individuals who suffered from schizophrenia and yet made a success of their lives. We just need to look at such people as John Nash, mathematician and Nobel prize winner, Tom Harrell, jazz musician, Meera Popkin, Broadway star, Andy Goram, Scottish soccer player, Lionel Aldridge, football super bowl winner, John Meek, recorder producer, Mary Todd Lincoln, mother of the Abraham Lincoln, Vaclav Ninjinsky, famous Russian dancer and Author Jack Kerouac just to name a few. What.s more, Syd Barrett guitarist for Pink Floyd, Jack Keoruac and John Nash have all had successful psychotherapy which has enriched their lives and keep them on an even keel.

The first line of defense in treating schizophrenia has always been drug therapy. Although this is great for calming the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, namely delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thought, only the more recent medications will have any effect on the negative symptoms such as flat affect, catatonia, (inability to move) and so on. Then there is the long process of finding just what medication or combo will serve the patient well. Many times this is a trial and error process. Furthermore, many people suffering with schizophrenia have a hard time staying on their medications. They may suffer from terrible side effects and just discontinue their medications on their own. Or they may dislike and mistrust the medications thinking they will do more harm than good. On the other hand, they may feel better with the medication and stop taking them because they no longer feel they need them only to find that their symptoms have gotten worse because of it.

It is therefore crucial that people suffering from schizophrenia take advantage of other forms of behavior therapy and support to keep them focused on the how to stay well and successful in life. Talking therapies will address all symptoms of schizophrenia, positive and negative. They will help with the hallucinations and delusion and also address the issues of emotion or lack thereof and social phobias and so on. Therapy will help them deal with all the fears and anxieties and help them to cope better in situations, which involve other people. Therapy will help them to open up and communicate their thoughts and desires to other people in a productive and useful manner.

According to the research done by Courtenay M. Harding, when the right intervention is employed people with schizophrenia will learn to manage their illness. They will learn to make the right choices, and set goals and have aspirations to succeed in life. They will learn good coping strategies, become aware of the signs that they need help and seek it immediately, learn how to manage their finances, their love interests and social situations, their jobs, and their home life. They can learn how to prepare for a job interview, or learn the skills to be employed. They can be set up in assisted living and learn house keeping skills if they have no family and they can learn how to make friends and trust people again.

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