If you are affected by the closures of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, learn how we can help.
Statement on Steward hospital closures
If you are affected by the closures of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center, learn how we can help.
Schizophrenia is a disease that makes it hard to think clearly, manage emotions, and interact with other people. It can cause:
The disease may change your ability to enjoy life, express emotions, or function. You may hear voices or behave strangely. You may also keep to yourself or have trouble speaking or understanding speech.
You may need lifelong treatment with medicines and counseling. This helps keep the disease under control.
When schizophrenia is not treated, the risks are higher for suicide, a hospital stay, and other problems. Early treatment called coordinated specialty care (CSC) may help a person who is having their first episode of psychotic thoughts. Ask your doctor about CSC.
Experts don't know what causes schizophrenia. It may have different causes for different people. Some causes may be related to:
Your chances of getting schizophrenia are greater if your parent, brother, or sister has it. But most people who have a family member with schizophrenia don't get it.
Neurotransmitters send messages between parts of the brain. They may not work the right way in people who have schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia may be related to problems during the mother's pregnancy that can harm a baby's developing brain and nervous system. These problems include poor nutrition and viral infections during pregnancy.
Schizophrenia isn't caused by anything you did, by personal weakness or bad choices, or by the way your parents raised you.
Symptoms of schizophrenia include:
Negative doesn't mean bad. Negative symptoms are things that are lost from your personality or how you experience life. You may:
Positive doesn't mean good. Positive symptoms are things added or new to your personality or how you experience life. They include:
These symptoms have to do with how you think. They can include:
Symptoms usually start as a teen or young adult, but they may start later in life.
Your doctor will ask you questions about your health and about any symptoms you may have had, such as hearing voices or having confusing thoughts. You'll have a physical exam.
Your doctor also may suggest tests to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms or to diagnose other schizophrenia disorders. These tests may include blood tests and a CT scan or an MRI. The CT scan or MRI will check the size, structure, and function of your brain.
Medicines can help treat your symptoms. And counseling and therapy help you change how you think about things and deal with the illness.
Recovery usually is a lifelong process. In the recovery process, you learn to cope with your symptoms and challenges, find and meet your goals, and get the support you need.
The goals of treatment and recovery are to:
If medicine and therapy aren't helping you, your doctor may suggest electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). In this procedure, your doctor uses electricity to create a brief and mild seizure. This may change your brain chemistry and help your symptoms.
If you struggle with alcohol, drugs, or tobacco or have other mental health problems, such as depression, you will need to treat these problems too.
Schizophrenia is a complex illness. Experts don't know what causes it or why some people get it and others don't. But some things increase your chances of getting it. These are called risk factors.
You may be at risk for schizophrenia if:
When you have schizophrenia, your symptoms can sometimes come back. This is called a relapse. There are things you can do to help prevent a relapse.
Work with your doctor and take care of yourself.
Not taking medicine is the main cause of relapse.
If side effects are making your life hard, talk with your doctor to see whether you can try a different medicine. Your doctor may be able to change the medicine or how much you take.
Go to your sessions, and continue with your recovery plan.
If your doctor recommends family therapy, be sure to have all family members attend each session.
Self-help and support groups are usually run by the members of the group, not health professionals.
Have a plan for what you'll do when you notice signs, and get help right away. Common signs of relapse include:
Call 911 anytime you think you may need emergency care. For example, call if:
Where to get help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
If you or someone you know talks about suicide, self-harm, a mental health crisis, a substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress, get help right away. You can:
Consider saving these numbers in your phone.
Go to 988lifeline.org for more information or to chat online.
Call your doctor now or seek immediate medical care if:
Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your doctor if:
Northeast Health Services is a network of outpatient mental health clinics that focuses on delivering timely access to high-quality psychiatry and therapy services for adults, children and adolescents in Massachusetts. The network offers a hybrid of in-person and telehealth services to best serve your needs.
Harvard Pilgrim has a large and growing network of behavioral health providers who offer expertise across dozens of behavioral health care specialties. Search our online directory to find a provider near you.
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