<p>The point is actually to lower dopamine levels. Patients with schizophrenia are shown to have hyperactive dopamine signal transduction, and anti-psychotics are hypothesized to act by reducing dopamine levels/reducing affinity of the dopamine receptor. Dissociation is seen as a negative side effect, not an intended one.</p>
<p>“Just have a friend look out for you and be really careful.”</p>
<p>Would you give the same stupid advice to a diabetic who decided not to take their insulin or to a person with hypertension who decided not to take their meds?</p>
<p>Schizophrenia is a disease that can cause death-- by suicide. People with that serious disease need to follow their doctors’ advice, not rely on advice from Internet strangers.</p>
<p>Except diabetes is not a psychological disease. And there is a clear course of effective treatment. Insulin shots don’t change your personality or affect your brilliance…</p>
<p>In this case, strong emotional support can be more effective. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Psychological exercises can actually be quite powerful. (As a biochem major I mean this in the least crackpot of ways.)</p>
<p>“Please don’t turn into e-thugs for the sake of CC.”</p>
<p>made me laugh : P</p>
<p>“People with that serious disease need to follow their doctors’ advice, not rely on advice from Internet strangers.”</p>
<p>exactly my point.</p>
<p>“Except diabetes is not a psychological disease.”</p>
<p>&, your point is…? they’re both still <em>diseases</em> that require ongoing medications/treatments. i would not trust my life+the life of others to a “friend looking after me”.</p>
<p>the treatments for schizophrenia are more sketchy than the treatments for diabetes</p>
<p>At the current moment we have very little idea of the mechanism of the drugs involved; they aren’t necessarily effective and it feels a little like blood-letting, except think all your feeling being sucked out of you.</p>
<p>Drugs should be a “last resort” option if those affected are at severe risk for hurting themselves. The drugs used today are not much of a step-up from the 1950s.</p>
<p>"A number of adverse side effects have been observed, including lowered life expectancy, weight gain, agranulocytosis, tardive dyskinesia, diabetes, tardive akathisia, sexual dysfunction, tardive psychosis, and tardive dysphrenia. "</p>
<p>not least of all the psychological side effects…</p>
<p>To tell you the truth, I’d rather risk hallucinations than not being able to make out with my girlfriend. Just saying.</p>
<p>^
- they’re delusions, not hallucinations, as someone had pointed out earlier in this thread.
- you wouldn’t be ‘risking it’…you either have the delusions, or you don’t.
- not if they were telling you to kill yourself or someone you know, you wouldn’t.</p>
<p>well hallucinations can be modelled by the poisson distribution so that’s why I use “risk”</p>
<p>(not all schizophrenics are delusional.)</p>
<p>besides if you recognise your delusions they aren’t delusions anymore – just hallucinations.</p>
<p>
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<p>The risk of suicide is higher but not exceptionally high in schizophrenics. Heck, some of the dissociatives can actually increase it.</p>
<p>whatever, i’m not arguing the idea of how dangerous any given schizophrenic may be -_-</p>
<p>John Nash turned out alright without meds.</p>
<p>I brought myself out (with the help of friends and family) of the autism spectrum without meds. Well actually sometimes I’m still on it but at least I’m a little high-functioning, functioning socially and leading a normal life…</p>
<p>“John Nash turned out alright without meds.”</p>
<p>…after about 30 years. & that was lucky, because he came close to hurting himself, on more than one occasion [wandering alone in the streets of strange cities, etc.]. it was also kind of a miracle…one day, he just sort of snapped out of it.</p>
<p>I think he just realised something he didn’t realise before.</p>
<p>His true treatment was also probably delayed by all the fake treatments of the 1950s. Typical antipsychotics and electroshock therapy and such.</p>
<p>Epiphanies can be more powerful than any crude receptor (ant)agonist. Being diagnosed earlier and having more emotional support early in his life would have prolly helped.</p>
<p>but you can’t rely on everyone having epiphanies about their mental disease. like i said before, i had always thought of it as miracle-like that he just randomly emerged in to reality : P</p>
<p>Yes but it can be attempted.</p>
<p>The thing about schizophrenia is that placebos perform surprisingly well when used in place of ECT and yes, even many antipsychotics. Don’t underestimate the potency of psychological effects… especially on psychological disorders. I would certainly be resistant to antipsychotic medication until I had exhausted all other options.</p>
<p>well, that’s your opinion & you’re entitled to it. i, however, would not be.</p>
<p>What are you even talking about? ECT is for severe depression, not schizophrenia.</p>
<p>And hallucinations are not “delusions that are recognized.”</p>
<p>I think you’re just posting random ideas that come into your mind without any knowledge. You might accidentally misinform someone who really cares.</p>
<p>it was previously administered for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders</p>
<p>from the enlightened era of the 1940s and 1950s and Skinnerism, which many antipsychotic drugs still hail from</p>
<p>And it’s proved ineffective. Which makes it irrelevant info for someone who has schizophrenia and refuses to take prescribed medication.</p>
<p>You’re using poor information to support dangerous advice that could severely hurt the OP in the long run.</p>
<p>I can’t stop you from posting your opinion, but you’re encouraging someone to not take prescribed medications without any background on the person. Sometimes showing off that you listened in a few random classes you took in college isn’t worth someone else’s well being.</p>
<p>I’m not advising against medication – it simply should be a last resort. Actually I am simply shocked that antipsychotics are so aggressively pushed as a course of treatment and so readily accepted, in the same way that ECT and insulin shock therapy were.</p>
<p>
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<p>yes but in the 1950s everyone pulled out their p-values and the improved statuses and criticised those who questioned it as crackpots</p>
<p>the real mechanism for antipsychotics remains unknown. Yeah yeah it antagonises dopamine receptors, but whether this actually causes the antipsychotic effect is unknown. The best drugs have response rates of around 20-25%, and even then patients suffer dissociations and a soulless existence.</p>
<p>I would love to hear the information you’ve learned in your biochem classes about antipsychotics. (Very seriously, this wasn’t intended to be sarcastic).</p>
<p>But It’d be best for everyone if you didn’t use your knowledge to form unprofessional opinions on someone’s current and future health.</p>
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<p>Therapy is $50 to $90 an hour for one to two hours a week. Generic Risperdal is $15 to $25 a month bought in 120 pill packages. The therapy should go along with the psychiatrist and the meds if meds are the way to go. If not, there still should be therapy.</p>