Paranoid

This is the life story of Geula Salomonova. It is based on real life events. Geula is ill with the mental disorder called Paranoid Schizophrenia. The story is told from the her point of view. This means that many events that are hallucinations might sounds like fiction, but they are real. Nothing is fictional.There are a lot of medical books and other materials on schizophrenia, but not much has been said from first hand experience. Those who are sick will never tell you their tale. This is because they are not coherent and not in touch with their surroundings most of the time. Thus their point of view and experience are kept secret. Geula, who passed through the usual psychotic experiences, had the good fortune of overcoming them and being able to tell her story. However, although the act of writing of this book was not easy, Geula decided to make the effort to finish it and share it with you. The book can be seen as the memoirs of a woman who has been haunted by Satan and demons. The whole story takes place through various countries and from the age of 15 to 36. The names of the characters have been changed to protect their identity and privacy. From this point on I will narrate as Geula. Seven years have passed since the events of this story took place. The inspiration for writing this book was from reading Anita Moorjani’s Dying To Be Me. It narrates her life story and tells about a woman dying from cancer, but eventually coming back to life. Thus, I decided to tell you about what had happened in my life. 

Paranoid schizophrenia


Symptoms Medication Serious Signs

Paranoid schizophrenia is characterized by predominantly positive symptoms of schizophrenia, including delusions and hallucinations. These debilitating symptoms blur the line between what is real and what isn’t, making it difficult for the person to lead a typical life.

Schizophrenia occurs in about 1.1 percent of the population, while paranoid schizophrenia is considered the most common subtype of this chronic disorder.1  The average age of onset is late adolescence to early adulthood, usually between the ages of 18 to 30. It is highly unusual for schizophrenia to be diagnosed after age 45 or before age 16. Onset in males typically occurs earlier in life than females.2
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Symptoms

Early symptoms of schizophrenia may seem rather ordinary and could be explained by a number of other factors. This includes socializing less often with friends, trouble sleeping, irritability, or a drop in grades.3  During the onset of schizophrenia — otherwise known as the prodromal phase — negative symptoms mount. These negative symptoms might include an increasing lack of motivation, decreasing inability to pay attention, or social isolation.4

Warning signs that psychosis may be imminent include:5

    Seeing, hearing, or tasting things that others do not.
    Suspiciousness and a general fear of others’ intentions.
    Persistent, unusual thoughts or beliefs.
    Difficulty thinking clearly.
    Withdrawing from family or friends.
    A significant decline in self-care.

Displaying all these symptoms doesn’t necessarily indicate the presence of schizophrenia, but these are indications that a mental health evaluation is advised. If the person is experiencing the onset of schizophrenia, early intervention is the best chance of a positive outcome. 6

The positive symptoms of schizophrenia — things like hallucinations and delusions — are less likely to go unnoticed. After the prodromal phase, the patient enters the active phase of schizophrenia, during which they experience debilitating thoughts and perceptual distortions. They may experience impaired motor or cognitive functions, including disorganized speech and disorganized or catatonic behavior.

The paranoia in paranoid schizophrenia stems from delusions — firmly held beliefs that persist despite evidence to the contrary — and hallucinations — seeing or hearing things that others do not. Both of these experiences can be persecutory or threatening in nature. A patient may hear a voice or voices in their head that they do not recognize as their own thoughts or internal voice. These voices can be demeaning or hostile, driving a person to do things they would not do otherwise.

Odd, untypical behavior flows as a result of these delusions and hallucinations. Someone with schizophrenia may be convinced that the government is surveilling them in an attempt to harm them in some way. This can lead to boarding up their home, blacking out windows, putting objects in front of doors to impede entry, and otherwise blocking or removing items they believe contain listening devices or cameras. They may stay up late at night to catch culprits.

Someone with active paranoid schizophrenia is consumed by their delusions or hallucinations. The vast majority of their energy and attention is focused on keeping to and protecting their falsely held beliefs or perceptual distortions.7

The most common time a person seeks initial treatment for schizophrenia is during the active phase, when psychosis often makes a dramatic disruption in one’s life and the lives of those around them.

After the active phase, the patient enters the residual phase of schizophrenia. Much like the residual subtype, hallucinations and delusions attenuate at this point (usually with the help of antipsychotic medication and other forms of treatment), and the patient experiences primarily negative symptoms.
Medication

When schizophrenia is diagnosed, antipsychotic medication is most typically prescribed. This can be given as a pill, a patch, or an injection. There are long-term injections that have been developed which could eliminate the problems of a patient not regularly taking their medication (called “medication noncompliance”). This is a common concern in schizophrenia because of the symptom of anosognosia. Anosognosia is the lack of insight and an unawareness of the presence of a disorder. Someone with schizophrenia may not recognize that their behavior, hallucinations, or delusions are unusual or unfounded. This can cause a person to stop taking antipsychotic medication, stop participating in therapy, or both, which can result in a relapse into active phase psychosis.

While antipsychotic medication is effective in treating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, it does not address negative symptoms.8 In addition, these drugs can have unwanted side effects including weight gain, drowsiness, restlessness, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, dry mouth, and lowered white blood cell count. They can also lead to the development of movement disorders, like tremors and tics, but these are more common with older generation antipsychotics (typicals), not newer generation antipsychotics (atypicals).

Psychotherapy also plays an important role in the treatment of schizophrenia. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to help patients develop and retain social skills, alleviate comorbid anxiety and depression symptoms, cope with trauma in their past, improve relationships with family and friends, and support occupational recovery.9

Team care known as Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) has shown promise in the treatment of schizophrenia. This utilizes a team of mental health professionals to perform case management, family support and education, medication management, education and employment support, as well as provide peer support.10
Signs that immediate medical attention is needed

If the patient is a danger to himself or others and is unwilling to seek treatment, they can be involuntarily committed to a hospital and held for a period of evaluation usually lasting three to seven days. A court order is required for involuntary commitment to be extended.11

Film and news media have characterized schizophrenia as a violent condition, however the majority of people with schizophrenia are not violent. The majority of violent crime is committed by individuals who do not suffer from this disorder. The risk of violence in schizophrenia drops dramatically when treatment is in place.12

Schizophrenia is associated with a higher risk of suicide.13 If the patient is suicidal contact the National Suicide Pre vention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or call 911 immediately.




Could these food supplements help treat psychosis?

When added to standard early-stage treatment, certain food supplements may help to alleviate symptoms of psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia.
man taking vitamin pills

Some food supplements, such as taurine, might help in the treatment of first-episode psychosis.

This was the conclusion of a systematic review of data from eight trials involving hundreds of young people who received treatment during the early stages of psychosis.

The review was led by Dr. Joseph Firth, who is a research fellow with the NICM Health Research Institute at the University of Western Sydney in Australia and an honorary research fellow at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.

He and his colleagues suggest that supplementing standard treatment with certain nutrients may be more effective than standard treatment alone in alleviating the symptoms of "first-episode psychosis."

They report their analysis, thought to be the first to evaluate trials of nutrient supplementation in first-episode psychosis, in a paper now published in the journal Early Intervention in Psychiatry.
First-episode psychosis

Psychosis is an umbrella term for symptoms that indicate "loss of contact with reality." Symptoms include: hallucinations, such as seeing, hearing, and sensing things that are not real; disordered thinking and speaking; and delusions, or maintaining that something is real even when the facts show otherwise.

Psychosis can result from a mental illness, such as schizophrenia, or a physical condition. It can also arise from taking certain medications, and abuse of alcohol or drugs.
Talk therapy strengthens brain connections to treat psychosis
Talk therapy strengthens brain connections to treat psychosis
Learn how cognitive behavioral therapy can strengthen brain connections in ways that lead to long-term recovery from psychosis.
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The symptoms of psychosis often begin during a person's late teenage years and their early to mid-20s, and around 3 percent of people "from all walks of life" will experience psychosis at some point in their lives.

Every year in the United States, around 100,000 teenagers and young adults experience first-episode psychosis.
Mental illness and food supplements

The idea of treating mental illness with nutrient supplements is often met with "cynicism and hype," says Dr. Firth.

"We conducted this review," he explains, "just to see if there is any 'real evidence' if such nutrients can actually help young people with psychosis


He suggests that the new review's findings offer an "early indication that certain nutrients may be beneficial, not to replace standard treatment, but as an 'add-on' treatment for some patients."

In their study paper, he and his co-authors explain that the effects of "nutrient-based treatments" such as "adjunctive vitamin or antioxidant supplementation" have been studied at length in long-term schizophrenia.

However, there has been no systematic review of trials of nutrient-based treatments in first-episode psychosis, "despite the potential benefits of using these treatments during the early stages of illness," they continue.

Therefore, they decided to conduct an evaluation of all the studies they could find that investigated the tolerability, effectiveness, and biological mechanisms of treatment with nutrient supplements in first-episode psychosis.
Taurine showed the strongest effect

The team searched electronic databases up to July 2017 and found eight randomized controlled trials involving 451 people with first-episode psychosis who met the criteria for inclusion.

Their analysis revealed that one nutrient in particular — the amino acid taurine — "showed significant improvements in positive symptoms and psychosocial functioning."

Although humans can make their own taurine, it is thought that most of it comes from dietary sources such as milk, shellfish, and the dark meats of turkey and chicken.

High levels of taurine are found in the brain and other organs, where it plays a key role in health and disease.

Taurine has many functions in cells and tissues. It serves as a neurotransmitter in the brain, for example, and it also helps to stabilize cell membranes and transport ions.

The researchers describe an Australian clinical trial in which 4 grams of taurine per day for 12 weeks alleviated psychotic symptoms in 121 young people with psychosis.
Combined nutrients may have stronger effect

Results for other nutrient supplements were not so clear or as strong, however. For example, some antioxidant supplements — such as vitamin C and n-acetyl cysteine — only reduced psychiatric symptoms in first-episode psychosis patients who also had "high levels of oxidative stress."

In the case of omega-3 supplements, there was conflicting evidence that they may work to reduce psychotic symptoms in young people, although there was positive evidence that they might improve some markers of brain health.

The analysis found no evidence that people with first-episode psychosis benefited from taking vitamin E supplements.

"Individual nutrients appear to have moderate effects on mental health, at best," concludes Dr. Firth.

He suggests that perhaps a "combined nutrient intervention" designed around the results that they found might have a bigger and better effect.

With this in mind, he and his colleagues are planning to start a new clinical trial in young people with psychosis in Australia. This will test a single supplement that combines all the nutrients that seem to have potential benefit.

    "We have to be careful to replicate the results of these initial studies before jumping to firm conclusions."

    Dr. Joseph Firth