Breaking Barriers: Empowering Recovery through Social Connection

The assignment content discusses the principles of recovery-oriented mental health practice, highlighting the importance of promoting mental health awareness to reduce the incidence of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. The article emphasizes the need for clinical treatment and administration of injections for unwilling patients like Jeremy, while also promoting cognitive therapy to minimize the effects of the disease. Furthermore, it underscores the significance of reducing stigma surrounding mental illness through education and public awareness campaigns.

Running head: SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
Schizophrenia- a case study
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
Mental health is a term, which deals with the psychological, emotional and social
well- being of a person. It has an effect on the way we behave, react and feel in different
situations (Corrigan et al, 2012). Mental illness, if not given attention for long can even affect
various parts of the body. The issue of mental health is not given as much attention as
physical health, worldwide, this certainly is a major issue to be concerned about. The
recovery process in most of the mental illnesses takes a long time because most of the mental
illnesses have similar symptoms. They are poorly understood because of the complexity of
the term and the need of the use of individualistic approach to it.
This essay discusses the experience of the famous musician Jeremy Oxley (from the
band-The Sunnyboys), aged fifty. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia at an early stage of
his life. The essay will also emphasize on current recovery principles and the ways in which
he can be given personal medical assistance. The discussion also gives an overview of the
current insight on the treatment of schizophrenia and evident based personalized care of the
person taken into consideration.
The principles of recovery process of mental disorders deals with six key points; an
individual’s uniqueness, individual’s choice, attitudes and rights, respect and dignity,
communication and partnership, evaluation of recover (Health.gov.au, 2017). Individual’s
uniqueness: It means that recovery is not just about getting cured but also is about having
various opportunities for choosing and living a purposeful, healthy and satisfying life, unique
to each individual. Individual’s choice: It empowers and supports individuals to make their
own decision for the choice of treatment. Rights and attitudes: it is about listening to the
individuals, learning about their various traits and acting on the communications the
individuals do with the health professional. Respect and dignity: It involves being respectful,
honest and courteous to the patient. It also includes the duty of caregiver for their patient’s

2SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
speedy recovery. Evaluation of recovery: It involves, tracking of the individual’s progress by
the individual and the caregiver to improve the quality of care giving. These principles should
be taken into consideration while evaluating any case of mental illness by the caregivers.
Understanding the key points of recovery also requires the nurse to have an insight of the
term personal recovery and its meaning to the patient.
The initiation of the mental illness of Jeremy Oxley was during the peak years of the
band “The Sunnyboys”. The name and fame added to the responsibilities Jeremy already had.
He was dealing with physical exhaustion and mental stress, due to continuous touring and
rapid sessions of recording, in addition to concerns about his younger brother, Peter Oxley
(also, second man of the band). Increasing levels of stress inclined Jeremy towards multiple
drugs and alcohol. Jeremy started behaving abnormally, which affected the ratings of the
band, as a consequence their band came to an end with the end of their career. Jeremy was
then diagnosed with schizophrenia, he was kept under treatment but he refused to take
medications, this resulted in fights among the brothers, which parted them away.
Schizophrenia is a mental illness, which includes unusual social behavior and
difficulty to discriminate between reality and non-existing things. Patients of schizophrenia
generally have several other mental issues like anxiety disorder and major depression in
addition to it (Fromer et al, 2014). The suffers who have additional disorders in inclusion of
schizophrenia, loose every hope in their life. Such patients also need to get treated for the
other psychological problems that they are dealing with. Psychologist say that the scuidal
tendency of such people is far more than the patients suffering from schizophrenia. The
recovery of such patients becomes much more difficult. Different people recover from mental
disorders in different ways, healthcare professionals should be able to be at ease with the
patient and study their likes and dislikes (Sutton et al, 2012). Mental concerns can only be
acted upon by interacting with the patient not only on professional terms but as a member of

3SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
the family, this makes the person open to discuss the problems they have without any stress
(Tew et al, 2012). Recovery is also a self-directed process, in the case of Jeremy, the thing
that relaxes him and the thing that lead to the mental condition are the same. The
management of his condition requires him to analyze the different aspects of the profession
that made him happy or stressed, as mentioned in the documentary of “The Sunnyboy”. Self -
recovery process eases the work of the healthcare professional, the primary study of the case
if already done by the patient then the caregivers can proceed with the secondary process of
treatment, that is, it eases the care and provision of service to the patient (Drake & Whitley,
2014). The caregivers in the case of Jeremy should also emphasize in giving him a
personalized care, which should also consist of music sessions of his background. This will
enable him to get his interest back in music.
The patients suffering from schizophrenia should be under medication, it lessens the
time taken in the process of recovery. It has no specific period of rehabilitation, the patient
needs to take the treatment for a long time, even after the symptoms subside (Warner, 2013).
Jeremy needed approach of a team of health professionals initially, as he was not willing to
take medication. The patients of schizophrenia have a high level of delusion and hallucination
as in the case of Jeremy (Keers et al, 2014). Coordination between the psychologist,
psychiatrist and caregiver ensures enhancement of the condition (Bass et al, 2013). Handling
patients suffering from mental illness, needs far more dedication and patience than handling
the patients suffering from physical ailments. Gaining confidence of the patient, plays a
crucial role in the recovery process of such patients, more the interaction, higher the chance
of reduction of symptoms (Wong et al, 2012).
Schizophrenia is related to the damage, of the noradrenergic system by 6-
Hydroxydopamine. Researchers believe that, it happens due to the combination of a number
of genetic factors, chemistry of the brain and various environmental factors (as in case of

4SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
Jeremy Oxley). Neuroimaging studies show that there is a different between the structure of
the brain and the central nervous system between the patient suffering from schizophrenia
and normal people (Taylor et al, 2012). They are yet to find significance of these differences.
Clinical treatment of such patients include the administration of various antipsychotic
drugs, they are known to control the symptoms of schizophrenia by affecting the
neurotransmitter dopamine of the brain (Demjaha et al, 2012). Jeremy as mentioned earlier,
was unwilling to take medicines initially, such patients can even be administered injections
instead of pills. The antipsychotic drugs that are recommended by the psychiatrists include
asenapine, brexpiprazole, clozapine, lurasidone, lioperidone and aripiprazole (Australian,
2017). These drugs are used presently because of the presence of least number of side effects
associated with its consumption.
The patients of any mental illness require their attendance at several counseling
sessions as prescribed by the psychiatrist. The interval depends on the situation of the patient.
The sessions includes cognitive therapy, it helps the patient in an effective way by gradually
defusing the traumas that they suffer from recurrence of certain previous thoughts (Happell,
Davis & Scott, 2012). It also explores the feelings, thoughts and behavior, and improves ones
status. In such sessions, people learn to understand and correct their occurrence of thoughts
and hallucinations. The process comprises of several breathing techniques and some physical
exercises, that are specifically designed on the basis of the different conditions the patients
deal with. These procedures, also help in stabilizing the senses and increases the patients’ self
–esteem (Hicks, Deane & Crowe, 2012). Patients who deal with extreme mental disorders,
are sometimes administered the electro-conclusive therapy. Electro-conclusive therapy helps
in slowing down the nerve impulses, which create the hallucinations and delusions in the
patients of schizophrenia. It also is a painful method, the patients are most of the time
intolerant to such high powers of electricity. The usage of this therapy is minimized,

5SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
nowadays because it can extensively damage the cells of the neurons, which can even be
detrimental to the patient. This process is even band in some of the countries because of the
lethality of the process.
Therefore, it can be concluded from the above essay that mental illness is rising in
today’s time. Negligence of mental illnesses, be it minor stress or anxiety, can lead to
unfavourable consequences. The case of Jeremy gives us an insight of, how stressing out for
long can affect the brain inimically. Following the principles of recovery helps a caregiver or
health professional to understand and act to the situation of the patient accordingly. Recovery
is a process, which everyone goes through in their life in various circumstances, the
difference in the case of people with lived experience of mental illness is that they also have
to cope up with social isolation, stigma and loss of personal identity. This condition requires
the caregivers to follow the principles of recovery. Clinical treatment of schizophrenia needs
the patient to be under medication, unwilling patients like Jeremy can be treated by the
administration of injections. Use of cognitive therapy also helps in the recovery process of
most of the mental illnesses including schizophrenia. It has the potential to minimize the
effects and reduce the necessity of usage of the anti-psychotic drugs .Promotion of mental
health is the need of the hour, reduction of such types of illnesses, is only possible by creating
awareness of the condition.

6SCHIZOPHRENIA- A CASE STUDY
References:
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