How does cognitive behavioral therapy work to treat schizophrenia?

4 Comments

1. Andrea says:

   July 11, 2010 at 10:35 pm

   It can work a little bit on some of the symptoms and it is important to stay in touch with a therapist that might notice changes before the schizophrenic does, however medication is the frontline treatment for Schizophrenia and the only thing that will control most of the symptoms…..
2. letterstoheather says:

   July 11, 2010 at 11:22 pm

   I’ve never heard of using CBT to treat schizophrenia. CBT is a form of psychotherapy which helps a patient realize that we can change our behaviors by altering the way we, think, react and see things. Our thoughts control our actions many times.

   I believe that, most of the time, our behaviors and reactions are learned. I know mine were. I went through CBT and i look at the world in a completely different (much more positive) way now. It was great for me, personally.

   I think CBT could help anyone with a sour attitude,and even anger issues.
3. KatieW says:

   July 11, 2010 at 11:53 pm

   Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can be extremely helpful for a person with schizophrenia that is not currently experiencing a psychotic episode. It is helpful if that person is psychotic, but not as much and its done a bit differently.

   Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is going to address to aspects of Schizophrenia…the positive and negative symptoms.

   Positive symptoms are hallucinations and delusions. People who are not psychotic can experience these and realize that they are not real; however, they can still be annoying, frightening, and disruptive to everyday life. For hallucinations, CBT is going to teach a person how to ignore the hallucinations. If you are hearing voices, you learn ways to tune them out (i.e. listening to music) or ignore what they say (telling you that you are worthless, should kill yourself, that people are out to get you, etc.). For visual hallucinations, you learn to ignore those or find ways to determine if what you are seeing is real. For delusions, the person first is taught to recognize thoughts that are less than rational. If you are paranoid and believe that someone wants to break into your house, this delusion is analyzed to see why you are so fearful of this situation. You determine the feelings associated with the delusion. You then find ways to think more rationally about the delusion (looking at actual statistics for your neighborhood for break-ins, determining how difficult it actually would be for someone to break into your house). You also learn ways that you can remedy the delusion on your own (installing better locks, leaving night lights on). Also, you learn stress or anxiety managing techniques so that when you do experience a delusion, you can use these techniques to remain calm and rational so that you can better analyze your own thoughts.

   For negative symptoms (apathy, lack of pleasure/interest, no motivation, withdrawal, etc), you learn how to combat these symptoms. If you are having trouble motivating yourself to wash your laundry on a regular basis, you analyze why this chore is so difficult and then examine ways that you can help yourself complete the task. You also analyze what feelings are associated with doing laundry and how you can change the negative or apathetic feelings to something more positive. If you are experiencing withdrawal/social isolation, you analyze what is making you not want to be around other people, how being around others makes you feel, and then examine ways that you can slowly begin to be more social (volunteering, joining support groups, joining clubs, taking a class about a hobby you are interested in). Basically, most of the negative symptoms are going to be analyzed in why you struggle with it, how it makes you feel, and ways to change the behavior.

   These are just a few ways that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is helpful to people with schizophrenia. It has actually been proven to be one of the most effective types of psychotherapy for schizophrenics. Traditional talk therapy tends to be pointless in such a mind-altering illness. Psychoanalysis has been proven to cause schizophrenic patients to regress and become even more delusional.
4. straight forward answers! says:

   July 12, 2010 at 12:40 am

   CBT was actually one of the best sources of treatment i had. Having personal insight into what the symptoms of schizophrenia are and knowing how to recognize them and therefore take control of them. Also, this was not done intentional, but right after i was diagnosed w/schizophrenia (actually schizo-affective) my doctor recommend me join this group in which there were all low functioning schizophrenics/schizoaffective’s, this insight into what schizophrenia can have me become, gave me more motivation to fight it!

   EDIT: To “Katie W” some people who are PSYCHOTIC can also experience “these” and realize that they are not real. Just as people who are not psychotic may experience “these” & not realize there is anything wrong

   EDIT II: You usually dont have a session of CBT, It is usually integrated as part of talk/group therapy.