Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that can affect both the patient and their families. This severe condition can make its victim experience a loss of connection with reality. This disconnection exposes them to a heightened risk of unemployment, suicide, physical ailments, relationship problems, and even early death. Many patients resort to substance abuse and commit violent acts. If you have been diagnosed with this debilitating condition, it is important to learn how to deal with schizophrenia effectively. It will be difficult, but you should never stop trying. Let’s find out more about it.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Schizophrenics have to deal with a variety of symptoms that often come and go. There will be negative symptoms, positive symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Delusions, hallucinations, and movement disorders are positive symptoms. You may also experience negative symptoms that are associated with a disruption of normal behaviors and emotions. People experiencing negative symptoms will lose interest in everyday life and find it difficult to maintain planned activities. Cognitive symptoms are more subtle and are found after testing – the most common ones are the inability to understand things and trouble paying attention. It is important to seek medical help to learn how to deal with schizophrenia.
How to Deal with Schizophrenia
Even when you know you have this condition, it will never be easy to keep yourself from reacting to things that are not there. You should keep in touch with your healthcare provider and try some natural ways to manage your condition more effectively. Here are a few things to do.
1. Stay Hopeful
If you cannot keep your hopes high, you will find it extremely difficult to deal with schizophrenia. Many studies have found that schizophrenics who stay hopeful about their recovery are likely to get better results and that too without medications. You should find some examples of people who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia but they managed to find a balance in their lives.
2. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
You can increase your chances of recovery by creating a healthy home and lifestyle. You will find it much more difficult to learn how to deal with schizophrenia if you do not feel secure and stable in your life. You need to keep yourself busy and find a job if you do not already have one. Get in touch with your Social Security office to help find a home and job.
3. Exercise Hard
Many experts are of the view that exercising vigorously may help a lot with your schizophrenia symptoms. The idea is to push your body to trigger the release of feel-good hormones. You may benefit a lot by opting for sports like Martial Arts and Boxing. These sports also provide you with an opportunity to vent your anger. By dealing with your anger, you will feel lighter and it will also help you have improved concentration as well as better physical and mental balance.
4. Learn to Build Supportive Relationships
Keep in mind that no matter how hard you try, it sometimes becomes extremely difficult to manage your condition. In those tough times, you need to have someone around you who could lend a helping hand. Take an initiative to build supportive relationships. Talk to friends and family, join support groups, and keep yourself engaged in things that you love to do. Getting and maintaining a job is essential here because it gives you a chance to meet new people and stay focused all the time.
5. Try Self Hypnosis
Hypnosis is a great way to calm your mind and change your perception about different things. You can work with a specialist or you can learn self-hypnosis techniques to deal with negative emotions on your own. You should also make use of reinforcements, especially before going to bed. Keep repeating those statements to yourself until you fall asleep.
6. Work on Your Problem Solving Skills
In order to learn how to deal with schizophrenia, you need to develop and hone your problem solving skills. Even when others are around for support, it is important to develop your own problem solving and coping strategies. Develop a system to help pay the bills, provide for someone, and find your own way to deal with problems to improve your chances of recovery. Try to make your own decisions about different things in life – pick your own therapist, decide how much to spend on groceries, and take other decisions to feel empowered and in control of things.
7. Write a Journal
A great way to deal with schizophrenia is to record how you feel about different things. In short, you should maintain a journal and write down your experiences and your reactions to different situations. You can read your journal later and make better plans to manage your condition. Moreover, writing is a great way to help improve your focus and get out of your mind. By reading your own words later, you will find it much easier to come back to reality.
8. Work on Keeping Your Mind Relaxed
In order to deal with schizophrenia, you need to find a way to calm your nerves. Deep breathing is a great choice. While taking deep breaths, you should create a happy picture in your mind and stay focused. Similarly, you can find a song, chant, or sound that you like and listen to it while practicing deep breathing exercises. Do not let your thoughts go out of control and make you think about things that cause paranoia, guilt, or fear.
9. Do Not Ignore Therapy
No matter what lifestyle changes you make, you will often find yourself dealing with disturbing symptoms of schizophrenia. Therefore, it is of immense importance to continue your therapy even when you feel better. Understand that you are dealing with a mental illness and you cannot go far without the help and support of a therapist.