“Can schizophrenia be controlled?”

Typically medication management and therapy are used to treat schizophrenia.

Yes to a certain degree, the best overall approach is going to be a combination of medication management and working with a counselor. I wish you the best.

Yes with a combination of medicine and therapy

Hi there! Thank you for your question. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. A diagnosis of schizophrenia is understandably scary. The way we tend to think about schizophrenia treatment is that it can be managed. Much like type I Diabetes can't be cured, but can be managed with a combination of medication and lifestyle changes - schizophrenia can be thought of similarly. We usually do this through a combination of strategies including medication, talk therapy, social skills training, coordinated specialty care programs, and education or employment assistance. It's important that treatment is tailored to the individual because the way schizophrenia manifests in one person could look quite different in another person with the same diagnosis. It's also helpful if we can get the person's family or significant others involved and educated. Family or friends are sometimes able to see the first signs of an impending episode before the patient notices and can help them stay on track.

Yes

It can be a really scary time for someone, and for their loved ones when they find out they have a Schizophrenia diagnosis. The great news is that with medication and therapy combined, it is absolutely controllable. The extent to which it is manageable has something to do with the patients willingness to obtain and comply with treatment from both psychiatrist and therapist. It is important for patients not to stop taking medications or to start using alcohol or other illicit or non-prescribed drugs. Also, it is helpful having people in their support system who they can trust to reality check with if they are having any persistent symptoms. The most common can be auditory and visual hallucinations (hearing and seeing things others dont sometimes human voices talking to them in derogatory ways or in severe episodes commanding them to do things) and delusions (thinking things are happening that are not). It is a complex subject, difficult to give a definitive answer but in my experience, I have seen much success from patients who work to control their Schizophrenia.

There's no cure for schizophrenia. Current treatments focus on managing or reducing the severity of symptoms. It's important to get treatment from a psychiatrist or mental health professional who has experience treating people with this disorder. You may also work with a social worker or a case manager, too