l health Prima Watch

caring for schizophrenia ?

" Je suis misanthrope - parceque - j'aime l'humanite~ " .... doubtfully Stendhal ?

 

 

 

 

 

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Two examples form carer observation which proved worth thinking about ?

S, is a well 'recovered' sufferer from schizophrenia, driving his own car, finding a guiding life on his own, if apt to muddle financial documents.

One day S told his carer [ they were partners in this illness management ] that S when he tried to read fiction, starting at the top of the page, S could not carry the information to the bottom of he page, so lost the plot.
Similarly with watching a drama on TV S became muddled, confused and upset so that he did not watch, and if the drama ws interrupted by an interval and he awent somewhere else, coming back he could not get into the progress of the drama.
'Factual' Tv and sport were better .
His carer could watch ,move away, return and pick up the plot , and lose her self in the drama, returning from that, at will.

Cp this scientific study

G had been given a weekly programm in which he went out on two days a week, relieving his carer, but also having a routine, with which he had to prepare himself 'mentally, for example he had to get ready - hand in the bag which he would use for his lunch out at the project. The care co-ordinator who had arranged his had a feedback that G 'hated the work'. On one day there was theory; on the other it was practical work amonst other people.

For external reasons the project closed for three weeks.

During this time G was worse at home, much more withdrawn, hidng and grimacing , mouthing., fingers in his ears to cut down the input .All this time on clozapine, the most potent medication help, introduced six months earlier but with no improvement.
The three weeks over, G resumed the previous level of behaviour, tolerable and with better mixing , quieter, able to sit in the same room, playing the cricket scors on the computer' and using Google to find sports hero biographies, and exchanging contact with the other family members.
Not medication - without the routine the illness went backwards. Medication plus involvement, even when enforced, supported the improvement.
without medication G would not have been able to take part.

The point.

It was the presence of a weekly commitment to a routine of taking part with an outside occupational activity, that ,even though the participation was from coercion, by professional staff, and by the family carer, that forced his engagement. Without it, he floundered back into illness.

Put together
'S' :- a handicap in this illness, is not being able to go back and get to the point, where the original forward looking intenion was clear, holding on to the appropriate associations required to go forward.
:- 'G' Where there is an anchoring routine in front, from outside, that structuring in the week, gives an internal map, for a future pathway to go, holds up to an intent, the practice supports a holding on to a better engagement overall, and a fading of influence form illness strength.

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E-mail reaction is welcome

mica2@tiscali.co.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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