Corie+Hahn+-+Schizophrenia


 * Corie Hahn - Schizophrenia **

__Was insulin shock therapy a viable clinical treatment?__
 * Question 1.**

No because what insulin shock therapy basically does is the patient gets injected repetitively with insulin to try to produce comas which would happen for several weeks. There has been actual evidence provided that insulin shock therapy does nothing better than barbiturates, which is an induction of coma. Furthermore, this is not a safe operation as there are numerous side effects such as respiratory problems, irreversible coma, heart failures, dehydration, fatigue and even death. All of these things led me to believe that insulin shock therapy was not a viable clinical treatment. Connecting back to the movie, //A Beautiful Mind//, John Nash had not fully recovered from the insulin shock therapy in that we cannot account it for being a reliable source of solution when it comes to schizophrenia. Thankfully, it is not used in the United States any longer although it is sometimes used in China or India. In conclusion, an insulin shock therapy is not a viable clinical treatment because of all the possible effects and the success rate not being high, we cannot rely on this sort of operation.

__Was John Nash an unusual case, or do you think that many schizophrenic patients can be taught to function in society with without medication?__
 * Question 2.**

I've done research on the movie, //A Beautiful Mind// and what it has stated previously was that this was completely fictional. We cannot hold John Nash accountable for the generalization that all schizophrenics are like him. Not all schizophrenics are able to recover without taking their medication. One of the most important things I learned from this movie was to get inside the mind of a schizophrenic. Now, granted, John Nash was fictitious but it had taught me a lot about all the symptoms and the effects and what I have concluded was that if it was so simple-- trying to recover without any sort of medication, then why isn't it cured by now? Why is Schizophrenia still one of the most harmful psychological illnesses still today? Obviously, there is no simple answer to all of these questions. In my opinion, schizophrenic patients should not disregard their medication simply by John Nash's case-- we must look at the ratios and percentages of how much of a recovery gained by the medication, than rather, without it. There are many more cases proving in contrast to John Nash that people recover better with medication. This is not a matter of something we can teach to the society, but to observe and see how the majority acts to it instead of trying to teach them what doesn't work. As far as the medical treatments are concerned, they're doing a good job and thus, I can conclude majorly that we need the proper care of medication for schizophrenics and that we must also take into consideration that John Nash was a fictuous character and not judge everything solely by him.

__What are the dangers and/or advantages of this type of treatment (re: insulin shock therapy)?__
 * Question 3.**

Although in the movie, John Nash's anxiety and consciousnesses has reduced because of the insulin shock therapy, it still did harmful things in the household. For example, when he went back home, he had lost the relationship he had with his lover. Furthermore, there are side effects aside with this as I have mentioned before such as fatigue, respiratory problems, irreversible coma, heart failures, dehydration, and even death. However, there are always going to be pros and cons and to mention the pros in a more detailed way, it brought his agreebleness down to a sensible level and he was able to grasp the control of his mind when it came to the questions such as: What is real? What is not? In contrast to these factors, there were others as he was able to function properly in society better than before by gaining more control of his anxiety and hallucinations. So the the question becomes this: Which one outweighs more than the other? And if so, then should that answer be accountable to all Schizophrenics? Like I said previously, these sort of questions are tricky because professionals in this area would have treated this a long time ago. One of the most interesting things that I have learned was that there are always going to be exceptions. There are always going to be exceptions because everyone is different, whether they have the same mental illness or not. We, are always connected in some parts, but differentiated in many other levels too.

__What is the difference between the treatment of schizophrenia in 1960-1970 and today?__
 * Question 4**.

It is inevitable that the treatment for schizophrenia has changed tremendously along with other mental illnesses over time. They have a lot more medications, a lot more to put on the table, with better effects and a better recovery rate ever than before. The biggest difference would have to be that now, we do not completely block the flow of dopamine which will then cause better side effects and a more effective treatment. Back in 1960s to 1970s, there were two treatments which were ICT and CPZ. (Insulin shock therapy and Synthethical chemical chlorpromazine) but as time passed on, it has been discovered that ICT was dangerous and was shut down in 1962 in United States. In contrast to these treatments, today, we use more of antipsychotic drugs to try to relieve the pain. However, one of the most important things to understand is that even through the tremendous research and the efforts reached into Schizophrenia, there is still no cure of it.

__What are the various types of schizophrenia? Which would you consider the worst case to have? The least worst? Explain why for each.__
 * Question 5.**

Personally, I think that all types of schizophrenia are something that nobody wants to really have. However, as I've gotten through some of the varieties of Schizophrenia, I have found the worst case and the least worst of them all. There are catatonic, disorganized, paranoid, residual, undifferentiated and many more. As I have done research on the origin of the movie, I have found out that John Nash was a paranoid schizophrenic. The symptoms of a paranoid schizophrenic are hallucinations and etc. However, I believe that the worst case of schizophrenia would have to be catatonic because they are unable to move with their free will, sometimes even sitting countless of hours in that one same position on and on. I think that being unable to physically move and unable to control your motor abilities are far worse than hallucinations. In contrast to his, I believe that the least worst would have to be residual because it does not overbear their social abilities are able to function pretty properly in society.

__What treatments are being pioneered today for schizophrenia?__
 * Question 6.**

Putting aside the fact that there are medication being put into schizophrenia for treatment, what's also very critical to understand which I have been mentioning over and over again throughout my answers are that even in the early 1960s to 1970s, there were treatments too, to try to relieve the bad side effects as possible and to try to cure it. Now, although these things are true-- in many senses, we are still right in the same place. For one, we have not created a cure for schizophrenic and lastly, our goal remains the same. The treatments that are being pioneered today for schizophrenia are anti psychotics, antidepressants, anti anxiety medications, and many more. These are simply tools that help us to try to make schizophrenia better for the patients, but is eventually, not the simple cure we are looking for. In conclusion, even though there is no cure yet, I believe that science has gone a significant and tremendous way for numerous patients as there are many other mental illnesses out there in the world. To wrap it up, I would like to state some examples of the treatments: haloperidol, fluphenazine, perphenazine, and etc.


 * Bibliography (Sources):**
 * http://www.abeautifulmind.com/main.html
 * http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nash/timeline/index.html
 * http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nash/