Alena+Koo+SCHIZO

1. Was insulin shock therapy a viable clinical treatment?

Although, insulin shock therapy might have been the most successful way of treating schizophrenia at the time, it wasn't a very viable clinical treatment. Insulin shock therapy was risky, painful, and dangerous to the patients that were being treated. The treatments could also lead to comas, memory loses, fractures, and seizures. Again, because the treatment was risky and did not really help to cure the schizophrenia, it would not have been the best clinical treatment.

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

I think that there are certain people who are schizophrenic that can function in society without medication. But as time passes, it might get harder and harder for them to ignore or cope with hearing voices or having hallucinations. At one point, it could also become so bad that the person might no longer be able to deal with their schizophrenia on their own. Then, they would have to get help or medication to function normally in society. There are schizophrenic people who can learn to function in society without medication, but I also think that John Nash was a rather unusual case because he was able to cope with his schizophrenia for quite a long time. He also had an interesting way of thinking about the voices that he was hearing and was able to reject or ignore them when they came on in his head. While dealing with schizophrenia on his own, there also wasn't a very drastic change in his lifestyle at first, but it had affected the ways in which he had thought.

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

The dangers to insulin shock therapy are that, it is risky and can cause many different types of problems even after the treatment. For example, memory loss, fractures, and unplanned seizures. Although it could have been seen as the most successful way to treat schizophrenia before, the therapy was very unpleasant to the patient that was going through it. It also did not always work to cure the illness and was done without anesthesia.

4. What is the difference between the treatment of schizophrenia in 1960-1970 and today?

Back then, there were not as many medications and treatments available to schizophrenic patients as there are today. From that time on, there were also other types of schizophrenia that were discovered, so there are more medications today that are made to fit the different types of schizophrenia. The treatments and medications are also more accurate than they were before. Instead of giving everyone with schizophrenia the same type of medication/treatment, people nowadays can figure out which type of medication/treatment is best for the different patients that suffer from schizophrenia. Patients with schizophrenia are also better treated than they were before. Instead of using the old methods, now there are new methods that are more successful to a person's recovery.

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

There are now many different types of schizophrenia. Some of them are, paranoid schizophrenia (which is the most common and basic), disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, residual schizophrenia, undifferentiated schizophrenia. I think that paranoid schizophrenia is the least worst to have because it is the most common and basic type of schizophrenia, also, because the person is just paranoid and hallucinating or hearing voices. Although paranoid schizophrenia would have an effect on the person and maybe the people around them, there would not be many drastic and dangerous changes and no one would really be harmed. Because it is the most common or basic, there would be many people who have had experience in treating the disorder. There would also be more medication and therapies that could help to get rid of the paranoid schizophrenia. I think the worst case of schizophrenia to have are residual schizophrenia and undifferentiated schizophrenia. Residual schizophrenia because it is a little like a negative mixture of all the different types of schizophrenia. It is also something that can happen to people that have had schizophrenia for a long period of time. The person would show the negative conditions of schizophrenia but still maintain a little bit of the positive. They would have trouble talking, enjoying everyday life, socializing, and their plans. They would also need help to go about their daily lives. Undifferentiated schizophrenia is also very bad because, because it is undifferentiated it would be very hard to get medication and the right treatments to help the schizophrenia.

6. What treatments are being pioneered today for schizophrenia?