According to New York Times, Schizophrenia affects more than two million Americans. The treatment for Schizophrenia involves strong doses of anti-psychotic drugs that minimizes delusions and hallucinations. However, these drugs do come with side effects that can cause weight gain and Parkinsons-like tremors. Now, a new study begins to question the method.
The American Journal of Psychiatry, with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, now believes that schizophrenic patients, who are administered with smaller doses of anti-psychotic medication but whose treatment puts more emphasis on one on one talks and family support, made bigger improvements toward mental and psychological recovery over the first two years of treatment,compared to those patients whose treatment focused solely on drug-centered care.
The United States Congress has already granted $25 million to wach state for early intervention for mental health programs. Thirty-two US States have already expressed that they are going to use the combined talk-therapy and drugs. There is a belief that this will greatly improve the quality of life for both the patients and their family members. This ultimately states that Talk Therapy is a much more favored treatment.
Since the findings last Friday, Medicare and Medicaid Services have already incorporated talk therapy into their recommendations. The new recommendation will promote the use of dual therapy (talk and anti-psychotic drugs).
This shows a better alternative to the current method of dealing with schizophrenia. This may lower anti-psychotic drug use by 50%. Experts hope that this will initiate a new standard of care in mental health - an area where many believe has inadequate support and focus.
A research team led by Dr. John M. Kane (Chairman of the Psychiatry Department, Hofstra North Shore - LIJ School of Medicine) helped administer the talk plus drug treatment (or combined treatment) to a few selected clinics and compared it with the standard treatments of other clinics. With the help of the patients' family members, the group that underwent the combined therapy showed symptom relief and functioned very well after treatment. The research indicated that this group was only administered on drug doses which were 20% to 50% lower than the usual treatment, Dr. Kane said.
