theWhiteLarryBird
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2013
- Messages
- 229
A medicated human being is generally sedated and compliant. It does make for less "work."
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DPMC Moderators: thegreenhand | tryptakid
Rethinking schizophrenia: Taming demons without drugs
- Thread starter neversickanymore
- Start date
MyDoorsAreOpen
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2003
- Messages
- 8,549
Someone else in this thread said it best -- antipsychotics are crude drugs that globally take away a person's motivation to do or say much of anything. They take away that "aha!" feeling of salience (which granted, strikes schizophrenics randomly and inappropriately), which is generated by dopaminergic neurons in the reward pathways, and is supposed to accompany accomplishment or satisfaction. People on antipsychotics feel no sense of accomplishment or satisfaction. They're content to just sit there and let life happen to them. Nothing means much to them -- it's all just one big drag. Their internal answer to any sort of stimulus, really, is "meh".
In this way, antipsychotics are given to people more to protect the public from them (and them from themselves). It manages, rather than treats (let alone cures) their schizophrenia. Antipsychotics do not take away the feeling that the world is fake and threatening (think the movie The Truman Show) which is really the subjectively most disturbing part of schizophrenia. Nor do they take away the odd mental machinations which attempt to make sense of why the external world feels so "wrong". They just render the person completely unmotivated to act on or emote about it.
I really do think the future of treatment for schizophrenia is psychotherapy and carefully orchestrated lifestyle planning and community reintegration. I have seen one or two schizophrenic patients on no meds, who are still odd people but no longer disturbed or in a state of tension with their communities. This was achieved by pioneering psychotherapeutic techniques, whereby they were accepted by a community of people unconditionally, and gradually brought to an awareness that their odd mentations were part of a brain disorder, rather than representative of a hostile and unpredictable outside world. These people still hear voices, but they have been taught to be able to distinguish these voices from real voices talking to them, and have learned over time to pay them no mind and not be threatened by them. The world still feels staged to them. But they've learned to cling tightly to and trust the small circle of people who love and accept them, for grounding. The people whom they live with have learned what things make them feel anxious, and do their best to avoid ever making them feel ill at ease, which cuts down the psychotic breaks considerably.
People can be taught to recognize an impending panic attack and talk themselves down from it before it takes them down. People with major depression can learn to recognize when their mood is worsening for no external reason, and respond with a set of thoughts, self-talk, and soothing activities which will at least make life bearable until the blue episode passes. I see no reason why a similar (though more intensive and involving a lot more people) technique might be enough to make life bearable for a good number of schizophrenics.
In this way, antipsychotics are given to people more to protect the public from them (and them from themselves). It manages, rather than treats (let alone cures) their schizophrenia. Antipsychotics do not take away the feeling that the world is fake and threatening (think the movie The Truman Show) which is really the subjectively most disturbing part of schizophrenia. Nor do they take away the odd mental machinations which attempt to make sense of why the external world feels so "wrong". They just render the person completely unmotivated to act on or emote about it.
I really do think the future of treatment for schizophrenia is psychotherapy and carefully orchestrated lifestyle planning and community reintegration. I have seen one or two schizophrenic patients on no meds, who are still odd people but no longer disturbed or in a state of tension with their communities. This was achieved by pioneering psychotherapeutic techniques, whereby they were accepted by a community of people unconditionally, and gradually brought to an awareness that their odd mentations were part of a brain disorder, rather than representative of a hostile and unpredictable outside world. These people still hear voices, but they have been taught to be able to distinguish these voices from real voices talking to them, and have learned over time to pay them no mind and not be threatened by them. The world still feels staged to them. But they've learned to cling tightly to and trust the small circle of people who love and accept them, for grounding. The people whom they live with have learned what things make them feel anxious, and do their best to avoid ever making them feel ill at ease, which cuts down the psychotic breaks considerably.
People can be taught to recognize an impending panic attack and talk themselves down from it before it takes them down. People with major depression can learn to recognize when their mood is worsening for no external reason, and respond with a set of thoughts, self-talk, and soothing activities which will at least make life bearable until the blue episode passes. I see no reason why a similar (though more intensive and involving a lot more people) technique might be enough to make life bearable for a good number of schizophrenics.