Psychosocial Rehabilitation for Schizophrenia

Psychosocial Rehabilitation for Schizophrenia

Psychosocial rehabilitation is a learning based approach using a token economy and social skill training to help patients with schizophrenia develop adaptive behaviors (Nevid, Rathus, & Green, 2003). To live successfully in the community, a variety of treatment approaches are available to people with schizophrenia. A few of the psychosocial rehabilitation options for people with schizophrenia include hospitalization, self-help clubs, family intervention programs, drug therapies and psychosocial treatments. Many treatments have been researched with the most effective being a combination of more than one treatment being implemented simultaneously with others.

Schizophrenia is an illness. The symptoms of schizophrenia usually last a lifetime. Persons suffering from schizophrenia have a distorted perception of reality which includes hallucinations and delusions affecting their thinking. They also have what are called negative symptoms; these include social withdrawal and blunted affect. Along with the thought and affect, there is also cognitive dysfunction. Symptoms of cognitive dysfunction are attention, memory, and learning difficulties. Although genetic vulnerabilities for schizophrenia are believed to exist, they have yet to identify a single genetic determinant (Tamminga, 2003). Earlier studies of interventions for schizophrenia were almost entirely biological. These studies called controlled clinical trials were not successful; the sample sizes were too small and did not provide useful data. Researchers knew the studies designs and reporting of the results studies needed to be improved. However, the studies did conclude, one very important aspect in the treatment of schizophrenia had been left out. Researchers needed to include the evaluation of psychosocial treatments of schizophrenia in order to show a complete picture (Wahlbeck, Adams, & Thornley, 2000).

Understanding the social dysfunction of schizophrenia helps in the refinement of psychosocial therapy. The ability of people with schizophrenia to give a coherent account of their lives is severely impaired. The disruption in their stories could be due to an organically based process that limits their interest in the external world or affects their ability to m...

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