A non-biological treatment for schizophrenia is CBT which examines thought processes to help patients change their thoughts and behaviour.
Belief modification- the therapist would offer alternative explanations for the schizophrenic‘s delusions and beliefs to help show the patient that the voices are a belief rather than a fact
Stress management- this helps to recognise triggers for psychotic episodes or anxious responses. They can also create coping mechanisms once they identify the triggers.
A positive of the use of CBT to help treat schizophrenia is that it’s a long-term solution with no side-effects. The things learned can be applied throughout a person‘s life without giving them other medical problems. This means people don’t need to be dependent on a drug or risk becoming addicted. However, a person has to open up for CBT to work which can be difficult for some people so it may not help them.
A weakness of using CBT to help treat schizophrenia is that it can’t change a biologically caused schizophrenic. Sensitivity disorder and drug induced schizophrenia can’t be improved through changing thinking patterns this means it is only suitable for certain schizophrenics which limits its usefulness. However, it gives healthy coping skills to the schizophrenics who do receive treatment which improves their quality of life.
Szasz- Myth of Mental Illness
Section 1- mental illness has been medicalised in order to earn more money for the state
Section 2- the claim that mental illness is a disease of the brain is not based on scientific research and therefore is a deception
Section 3- if a mental illness is found to have a physical cause it was never a mental illness but a physical one
Section 4- State sanctioned coercion moves away from personal decision-making towards political control of the treatment of the mentally ill
