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Young adults 18 and older living with schizophrenia and getting treatments at Sentara Northern Virginia medical center.

Since young adults are susceptible to schizophrenia, it is very important to educate on the symptoms of and alternative means of treatments for the disease. According to Green et al (2019), schizophrenia is a chronic and severe neurological brain condition that affects roughly 1.1 percent of the population in the United States aged 18 or older. There was a higher frequency of SMI among persons who reported having two or more races (9.9%), followed by adults who identified as American Indian or Alaskan Native (6.6 percent). Mental disease affects 4.55 percent of the population. New Jersey has a prevalence of adult mental illness of 16.14%, while Utah’s is 25.25% (Green et al, 2019).

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

As mentioned by Maheshwari et al (2019), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been found to be as successful as, or even more successful than, other aspects of psychotherapy or psychiatric drugs in numerous trials. In their study, Maheshwari et al (2019), showed that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches a person to change their perceptions or actions that may be causing negative feelings. CBT as a treatment of schizophrenia, focuses on behavior modification, behavioral experiments/reality testing, self-monitoring, and coping skills training. The goal is to create an open and trusting therapeutic relationship while also teaching the patient new skills and strategies for dealing with their symptoms. Individual therapy sessions are the most common format, and they are also the most constrained in terms of duration (typically several months). Schizophrenia can’t be cured, but it can be better managed and less distressing for the individual who has it, which is the ultimate goal of treatment (Maheshwari et al, 2019).

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Psychoeducation

An alternative to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is Psychoeducation.

This is a psychological intervention in which patients are taught about their illness and treatment in a structured, systematic, and didactic manner that also incorporates emotional and motivational elements to help them cope with their condition and improve their treatment’s adherence and effectiveness (Alhadidi et al, 2020). The objective of psychoeducation is to raise patients’ knowledge and awareness of their illness and treatment. People with schizophrenia may be better equipped to deal with their illness if they have access to more information. Patients with schizophrenia benefit greatly from psychoeducation because it helps them gain a better understanding of their illness (Alhadidi et al, 2020).

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Reduction and control of symptoms.

The goal of the intervention is, controlling/reducing the symptoms of and living with schizophrenia in the individual. According to Laws et al (2018), Schizophrenia intervention treatments aims to reduce symptoms, prevent relapse,

and improve adaptive functioning in order to help the patient return to society. In order to diminish psychotic symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking, antipsychotic treatment interventions modify the brain’s chemistry. In addition, they can help prevent the symptoms from returning in the future. Psychosocial treatment can help a person cope with the daily difficulties of living with this disease, such as trouble communicating and maintaining a job. It is excellent for persons who have been using antipsychotic drugs to reduce their symptoms.

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Within two years of being diagnosed with schizophrenia.

I will be proposing a period of two years between diagnosis and living with the disease. Chronic symptoms of schizophrenia are believed to start manifesting within a period of two years of living with the disease if not properly managed. It could get worse if proper medical and psychological interventions are not administered. According to Jauhar et al (2019), a period of 2 years is taken in determining the effectiveness of the intervention. For most patients experiencing the symptoms of the condition, a period of 2 years is sufficient to start realizing a change in their behavioral patterns. That’s why it is very important to start treatment early and stick to it for proper control and mitigation.