Early Treatment And Social Support Can Help Schizophrenia Patients

By Noor Adila Ali KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- The public should be proactive in taking their family members, who show abnormal behavioral changes and symptoms of depression and self-isolation, to see a psychiatrist as there is a possibility that their loved ones are suffering from schizophrenia. Universiti Malaya consultant psychiatrist Dr Muhammad Muhsin Ahmad Zahari said such an immediate action was vital to enable schizophrenia patients to receive early treatment and eventually live a better life. However, he said the majority of the public in Malaysia had the tendencies to opt for traditional treatment and view the behavioral changes as a disruption of mystical forces, hence affecting the patients' chances to get early treatment. "Whatever beliefs they hold, they should not deny the modern treatment available at hospitals. "We are worried that when they finally realised that schizophrenia cannot be cured through traditional treatment, it would be too late to take the patients to the hospital. By then, the illness may have reached a level where it is too chronic to be cured," he told Bernama in a recent interview here. Prior to this, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahya said one in every 100 Malaysians were suffering from schizophrenia, which is deemed as a severe mental illness. He said this was worrying as the people around schizophrenia patients did not view the problem seriously and refused to help them to get appropriate treatment. Muhammad Muhsin, who is also Malaysian Psychiatrists Association honorary secretary, it was important for schizophrenia patients to receive early treatment before the illness brought about more negative impacts, such as hallucinations and delusions. He also pointed out that people must stop treating schizophrenia patients as criminals because it would only made them more aggressive and out of control. He said this was because schizophrenia patients were not so dangerous because the number of crime cases involving them was actually smaller compared to the number of crime cases committed by those who were addicted to drugs. "The number of cases involving schizophrenia patients is relatively small, but their stories were often sensationalised to the extent of causing the public to perceive and believe that they were the most wanted criminals. "In reality, they are the ones who need support and to be accepted as normal people by the society," said Muhammad Muhsin. Meanwhile, psychologist Dr Meriam Omar Din said in many cases, schizophrenia symptoms recurred when the treated patients return to their families and communities. "When they were undergoing treatment at the hospital, their conditions improved to the extent of being allowed to be discharged, but once home, the symptoms of the illness recurred. "Why? Because they do not get the social support from their families, friends and the community," she said. Dr Meriam said the social support was very important in treating schizophrenia patients because the illness could not be simply cured by prescribed medications. As such, she said the people should erase the stigma of schizophrenia and do their parts to help the patients in preventing the illness from becoming serious and dangerous. --BERNAMA