Which drugs are used?

Avoiding medication is very risky and usually not recommended in cases of severe schizophrenia. Especially in acute attacks, the patient has no insight into the disease and may put himself and others at risk. No doctor will therefore let an acutely psychotic patient go home without medication.

Only in very mild cases, if the patient decisively rejects a medication, can one do without it. However, one should be aware that the chance of a complete resolution of the symptoms and thus of a cure is much higher if the first symptoms of schizophrenia are treated immediately. Once the schizophrenic episode is over, a good attitude using psycho- and behavioral therapy can replace medication. However, one should be very careful and let the medication spike to prevent a relapse. We recommend our page about: Schizophrenia – These medications are used!

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is useful for most schizophrenic patients to help them deal with their condition. First and foremost, this includes so-called psychoeducation, i.e. informing the affected person about his or her illness, the therapy and possible consequences. It must be clear to the patient that he or she will benefit from treatment in order to provide the necessary motivation for long-term medication and psychotherapy.

In addition to psychoeducation, cognitive-behavioral therapy plays an important role, in which the patient learns which behaviors are useful and which are harmful to him in the context of schizophrenia. None of these methods is about trying to talk the patient out of his schizophrenia. For example, if the person is suffering from delusions, it is usually not possible to invalidate them with logical arguments, because they are completely real for the patient. However, it must be made clear to the patient that the symptoms of his schizophrenia have disadvantages and that he would be better off with treatment.

Social therapeutic therapy approach

Information transfer (psychoeducation) It has proven to be beneficial to include relatives and partners in addition to individual therapy. The content of the information should be: to give an idea of how cooperation (taking medication) on the one hand, and reduction of stress on the other, can contribute to improvement. The goals of the information phase are:

To give those affected an explanation for the combined approach of neuroleptic therapy and family care psychotherapy.
The “self-management skills” promote, for example, by assigning an active role to those affected and making the patient an expert on his or her illness (theories of its development, frequency, course, symptoms, etc. )
Reduction of misunderstandings, prejudices and feelings of guilt.
Information about neuroleptics