How Schizophrenia Tends to be Treated
Traditional individual counseling has not been found to be effective
with people with schizophrenia. However, consumers will need to have regular
contact with a psychiatrist (a medical doctor) for medication review and
management. The consumer may also meet with a mental health professional
for "support."
While family therapy has also not been found to be effective, providing
support and education to families has been found to be helpful. Family
education focuses on helping them to understand the nature of the disability
and address their sadness, frustration, and fears, so they can assist the
consumer in managing the disorder over time. In most states today, consumers
with chronic schizophrenia will be provided services by some form of Case
Managment.
The majority of people with severe schizophrenia will be hospitalized
at some point in their lives. Consumers that stop taking their medications,
and those for whom the medications don't work (this is called treatment
refractory) will often have multiple hospital admissions. The length of
stay in the hospital is based largely on the consumer's response to medication.
During the past 10-20 years the lengths of stay have been significantly
reduced. With the current trend toward managed care, length of stay and
frequency of readmissions can be expected to be even further reduced.
A variety of group homes and residential settings exist for consumers
who have difficulty with independent living. Various levels of care exist
from very structured (where professional staff are constantly available)
to independent (where staff make occasional visits). The availability of
residential settings depends on the state and county in which the consumer
lives.
Most consumers with severe or chronic schizophrenia will have a case manager. The role of the case manager is to assist in coordinating all the services that the consumer may need. See figure below as an example of how a case manager can work with other professionals and agencies.