Use of antipsychotic drugs for managing schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe chronic psychological condition affecting almost 1% of the population across the world. This disorder is characterized by symptoms that disrupt the normal processes involved in thoughts and behaviors, leading to social problems. The thought problems related to schizophrenia are described as psychosis. It is essential to manage this condition with powerful antipsychotic drugs such as Seroquel so as to control its symptoms.

Types of schizophrenia:

·      Disorganized schizophrenia: patients suffering from this type of schizophrenia exhibit symptoms such as disorganized behavior and speech.

·      Undifferentiated schizophrenia: this type of schizophrenia is characterized by repeated episodes of delusions, hallucinations, catatonic behavior, disorganized speech or disorganized behavior, that are not specific to any other type of schizophrenia.

·      Residual schizophrenia: the patient suffers from a less severe form of schizophrenia and has symptoms characterized by withdrawal and disinterest.

·      Paranoid schizophrenia

·      Catatonic schizophrenia

Causative factors of schizophrenia:

The exact cause of this condition is still not known. The role of heredity in the development of schizophrenia is still not proved. It is suspected to arise due to the interplay of one or more factors that are mentioned below:

·      Parental poverty

·      Witnessing parental violence

·      Being a victim of physical, sexual or emotional abuse

·      Loss of a parent in early childhood

·      Being a victim of emotional and physical neglect

·      History of bullying

 
Signs and symptoms of schizophrenia:

The symptoms of this condition are broadly categorized into positive and negative symptoms.

More overtly psychotic or positive signs:

·      Delusions

·      Hearing, tasting, feeling, seeing or smelling  things that have no touch with reality, or hallucinations

·      Catatonic behaviors

·      Disorganized speech

·      Disorganized behavior

Less overtly psychotic or negative signs:

·      Loss of speech

·      Lack of motivation

·      Loss of facial expressions

Schizophrenia may occur in young children also. It is advised that the treatment in pediatric patients should be started only after carefully evaluating the symptoms and after confirming the diagnosis.

Management of schizophrenia:

Seroquel is an efficient antipsychotic drug for the management of schizophrenia. The active component of this drug is Quetiapine. It helps in treating this condition by controlling the abnormal transmission of nerve impulses across the nervous system. It acts by blocking the receptors that are meant for the attachment of some chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Recommended dosage of Seroquel:

·      Patients should start taking Seroquel in the initial recommended dosage of 25 milligrams, 2 times per day.

·      They can increase the dosage gradually in small increments of 25 to 50 milligrams, in a day, till a dose of 300 milligrams per day is attained.

·      This dose should be taken in 2 or 3 equally divided doses in a day.

·      Patients usually respond well to this drug in a dose of 150 to 750 milligrams per day.

Besides this, counseling of the person can help in achieving faster results with this drug.

Schizophrenia is a severe mental condition that affects a large number of persons across the world. Use Of Seroquel as recommended can provide great benefits to patients for obtaining relief from this condition.