Strategies for Promoting Health and Wellness in Schizophrenia

Overview of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is an intricate, chronic,
mental health disorder .1 It presents in
many symptoms such as hallucinations,
impaired cognitive ability, delusions,
and disorganized speech. It therefore
influences the feelings, behavior, and
thinking of individuals, and symptoms
may be disabling. It affects about 1% of
the entire population . 3
Risk and Protective Factors
Schizophrenia has been associated with one’s genetics as those
with first degree relatives suffering from the disease have
increased risk of developing it. 2 The heritability of the disorder
is approximately 80% and the likelihood of passing the
condition to offspring is about 13%.3 Environmental influences
such as place of birth, substance abuse and stress, date of birth,
and seasonal effects may also predispose one to the disease.3
Other environmental risk factors include trauma, family
environment, and pre and perinatal insults .4 Obstetric
complications such as asphyxia, bleeding during pregnancy,
gestational diabetes, low birth weight, and emergency caesarian
section also increase the risk of developing the disease later in
life 3. The interactions between genetical and environmental
factors have been shown to affect development of schizophrenia.
2 Clear communication in the family, healthy patterns of rearing,
positive family environment, breastfeeding, and good
performance in school are protective factors against
schizophrenia . 5
Strategies for Promoting Health and Wellness
Schizophrenia’s risk can be minimized by lifestyle
modifications that encourage reduced exposure to
determined environmental risk factors. 6 This can be
achieved through ways such as avoiding exposure to
neurotoxins during pregnancy and while in childhood
and engaging in physical fitness and exercise as
modulators of stress. 9 Also, continuous treatment of the
condition with a combination of antipsychotic
medications and psychotherapy helps in promoting
health and wellness by preventing relapse. 7 Additionally,
biopsychosocial holistic care model can be used to
promote health and wellness. This approach emphasizes
on client education, spiritual support, and encourages
self-management. 7 Other ways of health promotion
include patient engagement in secure professional
relationships, ensuring patients have meaningful
employment, encouraging clients to take part in social
contacts, and offering them help in case of psychotic
relapse. 8 What is more, health promotion can be
achieved by instilling positivity on patients in their life.
Here, patients are encouraged to focus on positive and
health aspects of life as a way of helping them to boost
their confidence and self esteem thus enabling them to be
more empowered and independent. 10
SCHIZOPHRENIA
Student’s Name
Recommended Digital Health Resources
Mayo Clinic : can be accessed from
https://www.mayoclinic.org/
Webicina: can be accessed from
http://www.webicina.com/
Smartpatients: : can be accessed from
https://www.smartpatients.com/
Medline Plus: : can be accessed from
https://medlineplus.gov/
National Health Information Center: can be accessed
from https://health.gov/nhic/
Drugs.com: can be accessed from
https://www.drugs.com/ or through drugs.com app
compatible with different smartphone devices
References
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