Depression vector created by pch.vector - www.freepik.com
In the last post, we saw how:
There are abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia and cerebellum.
Depression can present in different ways that have depression schizophrenia or psychosis presenting.
Schizophrenia often requires multidisciplinary approach for management.
Depression vector created by pch.vector - www.freepik.com
I’m really not ok tonight. I’m so sick and tired of #Schizophrenia, it took so much from me. It’s not fair and it makes me so sad.
— 𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚣𝚘 👽 (@alteredschizo) October 18, 2022
Welcome to Medic Vibes, where we discuss mental health disorders and make sense of them. Dr Ebingo Kigigha is a medical doctor (aspiring psychiatrist) and creative person (illustration and music). This has been our routine for three consecutive months. This month will be dedicated to Schizophrenia. In the first month, we discussed Depression, and in the subsequent month, anxiety. We just finished with Bipolar affective disorder. We are done looking at research work done in Nigeria on schizophrenia.
In this post, we are looking at a Twitter Post. To learn more just keep scrolling down. You can also skip to the key point of the post if you which or go to the conclusion to get the summary.
Some studies have been seeing a relationship between neural pathways and the views of the pathophysiology moving away from the thought that it is a result of discreet areas. Like there are some thoughts that schizophrenia might be a result of prefrontal cortex and thalamus deformities but the new thought is that it could be a result of dopaminergic circuit connections to the prefrontal cortex from the limbic system. This is what causes the symptoms seen in schizophrenia.
Some studies also show that anatomical and physiological abnormalities in humans show that abnormalities in the anterior cingulate basal ganglia thalamocortical circuit may be the cause of the positive symptoms while abnormalities of the dorsolateral prefrontal circuit may be the cause of negative symptoms.
There is also a reason based on the circuit of the brain for the cause of cognitive dysfunction seen in schizophrenia. There are several dysfunctions in the prefrontal cortex in several areas and in different ways that may be responsible for this dysfunction. These circuit theories have also been brought up for the cause of the hallucination.
Even though we have been studying schizophrenia for years maybe even over a century, there is still a lot we don’t know about the condition. Like the cause and the processes that take place before a person has schizophrenia. One problem that the science community is having is the shouts from different directions on what they think the cause might be. The reason might be that schizophrenia is a difficult condition to understand but it may be because of the methods used or the technology may be lacking or the general research maybe be faulty.
In the last 10 years, there has been a lot of interest in the genetic causes of schizophrenia because of the new technology available to investigate these leads that have been given in nature. It has however become an insider affair as many people do not have a firm grasp of molecular genetics terms and processes. Because of this many people have been devoting time to the study of these occurrences.
I’d like to bring some things to light in a simple way for people to understand.
There has been very strong proof from per-molecular and molecular genetics that has confirmed this. Genome-Wide Association Studies have brought many developments to the table and they have been further analyzed on a meta-analytical level. The has been a well-documented link between certain gene loci and schizophrenia. copy number variations and single nucleotide variants have been found are show good prospects.
There are also smaller gene segments that seem insignificant viewed on their own but given that they make up thousands of segments that can be put together to make something more significant, they are not to be overlooked.
The hope for the future is that there will be new forms of treatment will be found because of these genetic findings.
There is also a relationship between common and uncommon genetic variants and the clinical features that are seen in schizophrenia.
Another issue is that just because there are statistical correlations does not show causation. There has been no specific relationship with schizophrenia but with mental health as a whole.
The final wish is to have a clear path and definition of the pathological processes in schizophrenia and the attribution of genetics as the cause therefore concluding should be done so with caution.
Group therapy helps the patient focus on life’s problems and the way to go about relationships. The therapy method may have different focuses and directions depending on the main issues of the group. Some sceptics are critical and do not believe that the dynamic and insight-based methods of therapy are useful in managing schizophrenia.
The best use case for group therapy is so that there is binding between its members and fights the isolation that is typically seen in schizophrenia for many reasons.
Cognitive therapy helps with cognitive iterations. It helps them focus and make the best decisions. CBT has been reported to end the delusions and hallucinations seen in schizophrenia patients.****
