Schizophrenia is curable, says the recent research by the Norwegian scientists from the University of Oslo’s Department of Psychology. As ScienceNordic understood, half of the young people (about 55 per cent) recover from that mental disease while ten per cent of those who are fully recovered no longer use medication.
Schizophrenia is no longer a stigma as well as many other mental disease. Thanks to the innovative medicines and modern curing methods, having such a high proportion be well-functioning shows that schizophrenic patients have a greater potential to get well than previous research has shown. Professor Anne-Kari Torgalsbøen who works at the University of Oslo’s Department of Psychology notes too much pessimism has been associated with schizophrenia.
“The results of this study give hope not only to patients and their relatives, but also provide inspiration for everyone who treats young people with psychotic disorders,”
she says and adds that initially, that metal disease’s symptoms create a lot of anxiety and a huge emotional strain in the lives of the patient and his family. The worst thing about having a psychosis for most patients is that they can’t tell anyone because they worry about the reactions they’ll get. They’re afraid of being seen as a loser and deviant, however, in reality, things are not so bad.
Research: 55 per cent of the young people recover from schizophrenia
Meanwhile, the researchers say that the societal prejudices still add a significant burden that’s why the socialisation is a key point in the therapy. Patients with schizophrenia have to participate in group discussions, some of them needs to receive a cognitive therapy. Such a kind of therapy involves patients working to change their delusions as well as how they think about their own experiences and psychosis.
“They get training in thinking critically about how realistic their thoughts are,”
says Torgalsbøen and underlines that early diagnosis is crytically important. She emphasizes that these patients needs to receive early treatment.
“For example, we know that cognitive therapy works better when the patient gets help early so that the irrational thoughts don’t get a foothold,”
explains Torgalsbøen, saying that may other new international studies show that schizophrenic patients have far greater potential for improvement than expected.
