SCHIZOPHRENIA PREVENTION

Preventive Support to Ensure Young Individuals suffering from Schizophrenia do not reach Crisis Point in UK

Preventive Support to Ensure Young Individuals suffering from Schizophrenia do not reach Crisis Point in UK

Literature Review

Gully & Rosick (2005) highlight that schizophrenia refers to a mental disorder with chronic, consistent and often debilitating characteristics which result into disturbance relevant to social relationships, emotions, perceptions and thinking faced by the patient (p. 1147). Discovered initially in 1911, schizophrenia involves a patient into developing split personalities because of split sections within the mind. Moreover, this dangerous mental disease is also known to be occurring majorly within children belonging to the early teenage (Gorwood et al., 2013, p. 8).

Initial signs of this disease are most visible during early adulthood or late adolescence when the child is still residing with his parents. On the other hand, females do not have such early developments of the disease with visibility of symptoms during the age of mid-20s (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2010, pp. 273-274). The most commonly known symptoms of the disease could include both positive and negative symptoms. Among the positive symptoms, thinking disorders, bizarre behaviours (Eaton et al., 1995, p. 127), delusions and hallucinations are most common (Andreasen et al., 1990, p. 615). Whereas, the negative symptoms include Emotions or Drives blunting, lack of speech, poverty of energy, attention impairment and social withdrawal (Fundukian & Wilson, 2008, p. 764).

Gottesman & Wolfgram (1991) highlights that schizophrenia development chances are third highest among the children after the first two most affected victims being identical twins and fraternal twins. As per the all time famous statement, it is always better to be preventive then to wait until the stage of curing. Moreover, for children who have family history relevant to schizophrenia or with relatives including siblings having schizophrenia, preventive measures could prove to be a dream come true (Askari, 2012, p. 1561).

If preventive actions are taken, chances are that the affects of schizophrenia can be reduced to a point where the patient might not have to face disastrous outcomes at a crisis point. The most important activity in preventing schizophrenia is to have a proper intake of diet (Ayasekara, 2009). The reason behind this is that the brain requires multiple minerals and sufficient amount of dietary intake to function properly. If proper care is given towards drinking more water, eating more green and preventing junk food, the chances of schizophrenia's development could be reduced by leaps and bounds (Heald, 2010, p. 6).

Although the rate of children indulging in this dangerous mental ailment in the United Kingdom is less, but it is still known that one in every hundred people in United Kingdom is affected by Schizophrenia. Although found rarely, Schizophrenia does actually occur within the Children residing in United Kingdom (Heckers & Weiss, 2004, p. 590). Since the disease has lifelong effects and makes a person suffer for their entire life; parents who find symptoms within their child's behaviour relevant to schizophrenia are recommended to immediately seek the ...