Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that directly affects an individual’s thought process, behavior, and emotional well-being. Its symptoms may include delusions, hallucinations, and disorganized speech and thought. Often, the type of symptoms and their intensity vary, implying that they can worsen temporarily before subsiding for a period. In any case, there is no permanent schizophrenia treatment. There are ways to manage the condition and reduce the likelihood of frequent schizophrenic episodes.

Schizophrenia treatment care team
The treatment and management of schizophrenia usually require a complete team of health professionals, each offering support in different ways to provide holistic care. These professionals often include social workers, occupational therapists, counselors, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists or psychologists.

Common management options for schizophrenia

1. Individual psychotherapy
These are one-on-one sessions led by a healthcare professional, i.e., a psychiatrist or therapist. During each session, the healthcare professional teaches various methods and techniques using which those with schizophrenia can learn to manage their behavior and thoughts. This helps them become more familiar with the condition, its symptoms, and potential triggers that can cause a schizophrenic episode. With regular therapy sessions, managing everyday life becomes easier because it is possible to tell the difference between reality and hallucinations or delusions.

2. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
The goal of CBT is to assist in altering an individual’s behavior and thought process. It involves learning to identify thought patterns that mainly cause negative behavior and emotions. Furthermore, CBT helps those with this condition equip themselves with techniques to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. For instance, individuals will learn to recognize that certain voices and hallucinations are not real and know how to manage and deal with them. Several months of CBT sessions are necessary for the most effective results.

3. Cognitive enhancement therapy (CET)
It is also known as cognitive remediation and is a type of therapy that helps those with schizophrenia learn how to identify social cues and triggers. This therapy typically combines group sessions with computer-based training. Continuous sessions are effective in improving memory, attention, and the ability to organize one’s thinking.

4. Art therapy
These are one-on-one sessions led by a healthcare professional, i.e., a psychiatrist or therapist. During each session, the healthcare professional teaches various methods and techniques using which those with schizophrenia can learn to manage their behavior and thoughts. This helps them become more familiar with the condition, its symptoms, and potential triggers that can cause a schizophrenic episode. With regular therapy sessions, managing everyday life becomes easier because it is possible to tell the difference between reality and hallucinations or delusions.

5. Social skills training
These sessions focus on teaching various social skills that schizophrenia may have affected. These include eye contact, body language, and volume control. Such sessions can help improve communication abilities for better interpersonal relationships and social interactions.

6. Support groups
These groups encourage and motivate those with a common mental health condition to get together. Such groups have the goal of helping individuals practice their social skills while building relationships with others who are going through the same experiences as them. This invariably helps those with schizophrenia cope with the symptoms in a better way.