Ji+Yoon+Hyun-+Schizophrenia

**Schizophrenia 'Questions and Answers' Assignment **

 **1. Was insulin shock therapy a viable clinical treatment?**

Insulin shock therapy was not a viable clinical treatment because the treatment was dangerous; it was given out without medicine concerned with it. The insulin coma therapy impermanence rate varied from 1~10 % of patients treated. But why would people still use this dangerous treatment? At that time, according to the movie, ICT and ECT were the only treatments that were available to cure schizophrenia. Just like we having a very small possibility of winning cancer, same was to insulin shock therapy. But people would take risks in their lives to undergo the shocking, life-threatening options just to cure if it will ever happen. Therefore, it is proven that the insulin shock therapy is not a viable 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 John Nash would be an unusual case. I don't think that many schizophrenic patients can be taught to function in society with without medication. Normally when someone has schizophrenic, they start to have delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speeches, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and might bring more negative symptoms. John Nash went through 6 weeks of insulin coma treatment and after the treatment he did see improvement and change in him. But after working publicly at Princeton, his illness was happening again, which he refused to take more treatments. If this happens to every patient who refuses to take treatments and has schizophrenia, we can't just let the person work as a shadowy figure just like Dr. Nash. Not only there would be many dilemmas and fights with their symptoms, a person would not be able to handle the pain and the isolation. Therefore, I think John Nash was an unusual case, and that no schizophrenic patients can be taught to function in society with without medication.


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

First, Dr. Manfred Sakel used this to reduce the anxiety, nervousness, tremors, vomiting, weight loss, and so on. When they patients had insulin, Dr. Manfred proved to us that the patients were becoming more cooperative. People would say that patients were less argumentative, less hostile, and less aggressive. This later was even used to treat patients with schizophrenia, which was an illness that didn't have good enough treatments. But when Insulin was used, insulin injections led to two to three hours of low blood sugar levels. When blood sugar levels fall, the brain cannot sustain consciousness and the patients become stuporous. But people also named this insulin-shock-treatment because it lowered blood pressure, sweating, increased heart rate, and increased breathing rate.


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

The difference is that back in the 1960~ 1970s, there were two treatments, insulin shock therapy (ICT) and electroencephalogram (ECT). But just as some researches, ICT was discovered as a dangerous therapy it was stopped in United States at around 1962. What we can know is that there have been many developments through years and medicines or treatments have improved to at least help cure schizophrenia, even though it's not completely curable. Now a days, we don't block the flow of dopamine which causes more efficient treatments. ECT was a big benefit in understanding hormones and the brains to help support the treatment of using ICT. It is very difficult to understand but again, we are not allowed to use ICT anymore in the West. Some countries still try to use ICT but it's really rare. Today's main treatment of patients with schizophrenia is the use of antipsychotic drugs. These offer control of symptoms but rarely offers a cure. Another way could be lobotomy (leucotomy or psychosurgery), which is occasionally used to relieve patients of anxiety. ECT could be also another help patients with schizophrenia could get, but they have nothing to really rely on that can count on that the illness is 100% curable.


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

According to the site, it says that schizophrenia are identified as the paranoid, catatonic, disorganized, undifferentiated, and residual-type. Patients with catatonic form, less likely the ones with the paranoid, are the most effective with an ICT. Also it states that hormonal imbalances happen more often to patients with catatonic schizophrenia. Catatonic schizophrenia is characterized by hallucinations and most typically the presence of bizarre activities. Immobility, bizarre postures, excessive purposeless movements and mutism characterize the disease. This could be the worst because it would be so hard to get along with the society and people around the world. People with catatonic-type schizophrenia may move all around the place. They may not say anything for hours, or they may repeat anything you say or do. I personally think residual type schizophrenia would be the least case because people who have this type have only history of at least one episode of schizophrenia, and have no positive symptoms such as, delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech and behavior.


 * 6. What treatments are being pioneered today for schizophrenia?**

I did mention above but these days since it is forbidden to use ICT, there are other treatments. Today's main treatment of patients with schizophrenia is again antipsychotic drugs. These do control symptoms but again, it would never be able to cure schizophrenia. There are some places where they still use ICT (Soviet Union and China) but again, it is prohibited to use to patients with schizophrenia. Also lastly as I have mentioned before, another way could be lobotomy, which is occasionally used to make patients cool down with no anger or anxiety. It is really sad to know that there is nothing that can cure schizophrenia. But I hope someone finds out more about treatments that could cure schizophrenia, which only 2% of people in the world has.