Life Experience of a Schizophrenic Patient - Essay Example

Human Resource Management Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts 25th March, Introduction Mental diseases and conditions affect the health and social systems within the society. Schizophrenia is one the mental disorders that is dreaded by many people in the society. This is because the disease robs off the social life of an individual as the thought process is heavily incapacitated by the disease. People who have suffered from schizophrenia undergo a lot of trauma in their life that could easily lead to insanity. Some of the symptoms they suffer include hallucinations, delusions, slow speech and disorientation. Anxiety attacks is common among schizophrenic patients and in severe instances, schizophrenia leads depression. This essay is going to examine the life experience of a schizophrenic patient as she narrated her ordeal through a book. Book Review Lori Schiller suffered from schizophrenia at a young age but it was only in her adult life when the disease became excessive. Eventually she underwent medical and rehabilitation and got well, after that she wrote a book titled, “The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness.” This book reveals the ordeal she underwent while she was suffering from schizophrenia and the book was assembled with the help of her doctor, family and friends. The story of Lori Schiller begins when she was a young girl growing up in a well to do family. Her sickness began at the age of seventeen when she was working as a camp counselor. Her sickness as is described in the book began with little voices inside her head. At first she never talked about the voices and suppressed what she felt. She went on to graduate from college and thereafter proceed to college. During her initial period of being sick, Lori did not believe that she was sick and neither did she know what she was suffering from (Schiller, 1994). Lori did indeed suffer from schizoaffective since was bi-polar and at the same time schizophrenic. She also started experiencing hallucinations and this did affect her grades when she was in college. Her condition continued to worsen and she started having episodes of hallucinations making her to withdraw socially. Her social life was affected tremendously as witnessed by her testimony, “I was afraid they had heard the Voices and now knew the terrible secrets about me that they were revealing.” This shows that she avoided people and found it difficult to talk of her disease. Schizophrenic patients suffer from delusions and in most cases they are afraid to tell anyone about their problems. This is witnessed in Lori’s case when she talks of “Dr. Diane Fischer, my new therapist, was trying to kill me. I knew it from the moment I saw her”. This phrase bears to the witness that the voice episodes that affected Lori and she could not trust people like many other schizoid disorder patients (Schiller, 1994). The book also bears the testimony of her family members how were affected by Lori’s condition. For instance, her mother talks of Lori’s grandmother as being eccentric but she later realized that she did suffer from Schizophrenia just like Lori. Lori’s brothers were affected too by Lori’s condition since the condition did affect their personal life and relations. Lori’s condition worsened during her college years and six years after her fist episode of Schizophrenia she attempted suicide. In attempt to stop the voices, she started on a path of substance abuse by making use of drugs such as cocaine so that she could stop the voices. However, her condition became worse and she had to be hospitalized although she maintained that she was not ill. It was during her hospitalization that her condition got worse and she constantly traumatized by the voices inside her head. It was only during her long term hospitalization that she agreed to see a therapist and that how she came to meet Dr. Doller who helped on the path of recovery (Schiller, 1994). An experimental drug Clozapine was used on Lori after a long search for a lasting solution to her problem. The drug had numerous side effects but it did help Lori to stay calm. In the book she says, “When the Voices reared up and roared; it was as if they hit a glass shield, crashed and fell away…”, “Clozapine was standing between them and my brain.” This is a testament to the fact that the drug Clozapine helped her in regaining her life back. Moreover, therapy and psychiatric help afforded to her by Dr. Doller, assisted Loti in maintaining a normal life. Although, Lori still suffers from Schizophrenia and she still hears voices, today she can manage to maintain relationships with different people. Lessons Learnt Several lessons can be drawn from the book on Lori’s condition as a Schizophrenic patient. One of the important lessons that can be drawn from the book is to treat or tackle the disease at early stage can be effective. Looking at Lori’s case, early hospitalization would have reduced the effects and episodes of Schizophrenic symptoms. Schizophrenic patients require a lot of emotional support to tackle the disease and most of this support should come from family or close friends. One of the lessons learnt from the book is that Schizophrenic patients have difficulty in confiding or socialising with strangers. Monitoring the behaviour of teenagers and as they progression life is important since it seen from the book that Schizophrenia symptoms occur among teenagers. Behaviour changes or moodiness should not be ignored among teenagers or it be rubbished as part of normal growth. The behaviour and mental stability of teenagers should be keenly monitored (Schiller, 1994). Drugs such as cocaine, cannabis or stimulants cannot suppress but instead aid in the development of Schizophrenia. From Lori’s book we learnt that cocaine did not cure or suppress the voices she kept hearing. This is because the abuse of these drugs could also worsen symptoms experienced by Schizophrenia patients. Psychiatric therapy assists a lot in helping Schizophrenic patients cope with the symptoms of the disease such as depression. During her hospitalization with Schizophrenia, Lori got better under medication and when she was left alone. As a result, we come to learn that the best way of dealing with Schizophrenia is to make the patient aware of his/her condition. Moreover, once a Schizophrenic patient understands the condition he/she suffers from is when that person will take the initiative to get better. The fact that Schizophrenia is not a curable condition but one that a person can cope with is a lesson learnt from the book (Schiller, 1994). Lori Schiller continues to suffer from Schizophrenia but with the help of drugs and therapy, she can cope with symptoms of the mental condition. This underlines the message that Schizophrenia is manageable under close monitoring. Conclusion Dealing with Schizophrenia is very difficult for a patient and in most instances, the disease kills easily. People suffering from this disease/condition have a difficulty in living normal lives. In most cases, Schizophrenic patients suffer from the disease/condition for their lifetime. Lori’s case is an example of living with Schizophrenia and it gives lessons on how to cope with the disease. Making use of drugs helps in minimizing the effects of Schizophrenia as witnessed by Lori’s case could in most cases be effective. Schizophrenic patients require a lot of support from people close to them in their lives. This is witnessed by Lori’s close family members and Dr. Doller who helped her a lot in recovering from the condition. Although, Schizophrenia is not curable it is manageable as it is witnessed in Lori’s book. Through proper psychiatric care and therapy, it is possible to live a normal life with Schizophrenia. References Schiller, L. & Bennett, A. (1994). The quiet room: A journey out of the torment of madness. Miami, FL: Warner Books. Read More