Irish eyes are cryin'
A new study about schizophrenics in Ireland yields some less-than-encouraging results:
-53% were given no choice in relation to medication.
-52% were given no choice in their mental health treatment generally.
-44% had tried to stop or reduce their medication at some point in their treatment, however just 18% were offered help in doing so.
-48% said alternative treatments were never discussed with them.
-28% found that side-effects had a high impact on their day-to-day life.
There's more here.
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Here the situation is not much better - excerpted from Psychiatric News August 15, 2003
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/38/16/12
"Psychosocial Treatments Rare For Schizophrenia Patients"
The full of range of recommended psychosocial treatments for people with schizophrenia is rarely provided in routine psychiatric practice, according to results of a study from APA’s Practice Research Network (PRN).
Patients treated in the public sector under the Medicaid or Medicare programs and those over 65 years of age are especially unlikely to receive psychotherapy and other psychosocial treatments.
Of 151 adult patients with schizophrenia being treated by 615 psychiatrists in the PRN, 41 percent received both psychotherapy and medication; the rest received only medication. Moreover, more than half were receiving three or more different medications, and 14 percent were receiving five or more.
Only 38 percent of the 151 patients had case management, and only 21 percent were receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy. A mere 13 percent were receiving social skills training, and just 3 percent were receiving vocational training, despite the fact that 73 percent of the patients were unemployed.
Posted by: Joe | July 25, 2006 08:47 PM