Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia services serving Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, CA and the surrounding areas
Schizophrenia severely impacts your life by making you lose touch with reality and causing symptoms that make it difficult to connect with others. With consistent treatment from the psychiatrists at Regeneration Psychiatry, you have hope for putting your devastating symptoms into remission. They provide comprehensive, individualized treatment for schizophrenia, including advanced antipsychotic medications and therapy to support a healthy life. If you need help for delusions or hallucinations, call the office in Redondo Beach, California, or book an appointment online today.
Schizophrenia Q&A
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a serious mental health condition that distorts your thoughts and perceptions. The condition changes the way you interact with people and can severely affect your ability to function in daily life.
What psychotic symptoms does schizophrenia cause?
Schizophrenia is known for causing psychotic symptoms, such as:
Delusions
A delusion refers to having a false belief that is hard to set aside even though it’s not real. For example, you may believe that others control your thoughts, someone is out to get you, or that you’re a famous person.
Hallucinations
A hallucination occurs when you hear, see, smell, taste, or feel something that isn’t real.
Disorganized thoughts and speech
People with schizophrenia have unusual or illogical ways of thinking and find it hard to organize their thoughts. This disorganized thinking affects the way they speak. They may jump from one topic to another, jumble their words, say words that don’t make sense, or suddenly stop talking in the middle of a sentence.
Disorganized or catatonic behaviors
Disorganized behaviors can include actions that other people may find bizarre or strange. Catatonic behaviors can include repetitive, senseless movements, or the opposite, staying in one position without moving.
What other symptoms occur due to schizophrenia?
Beyond psychotic symptoms, schizophrenia also causes cognitive and negative symptoms:
Cognitive symptoms
These symptoms include problems with your memory, attention, concentration, and information processing.
Negative symptoms
Having negative symptoms means that you lack the expected emotional and behavioral responses that people usually experience. For example, you may not have facial expressions, you could lose interest in socializing, or feel unmotivated to act.
How is schizophrenia treated?
Regeneration Psychiatry performs a psychological evaluation, diagnoses the cause of your symptoms, and recommends the appropriate treatment.
Schizophrenia treatment includes:
Medication
Antipsychotic medications form the foundation of schizophrenia treatment. These medications reduce the severity of psychotic symptoms, including delusions and hallucinations. Taking medication may also put your symptoms into remission.
You may qualify for long-lasting injectable antipsychotics, which help you avoid symptom relapse without worrying about taking daily medications.
Therapy
While medications are essential for psychotic symptoms, therapy often helps with negative and cognitive symptoms. Therapy can teach coping skills and help you learn to manage the challenges of daily life, from maintaining relationships to holding a job.
Regeneration Psychiatry can also recommend community resources that further support your mental and physical health, such as support groups and supported employment.
To receive expert care for schizophrenia, call Regeneration Psychiatry or book an appointment online today.