Psychotherapy for Schizophrenia: An Underutilized Treatment

psychologytoday.com

6 points·devilcius··3 comments

I am surprised they did not mention bone marrow transplants. There are some studies on nih.gov [1] showing results for Remission of Psychosis in Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia following Bone Marrow Transplantation

As an interesting side note, it works both ways. A bone marrow transplant from a person with Schizophrenia to a person that previously did not will result in both having it.

[1] - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5613125/

It's understandable, as talk therapy is basically useless against untreated Schizophrenia. Unlike other mental illnesses, a tether to reality has to be created first - and that can only be done chemically/biologically through medication.

Psychotherapy requires a relationship; relationships are built on trust. The psychologist simply cannot complete against the will of the patient's reality (their untreated persona/thoughts). Not even their loved ones can, and doctors are complete strangers (and when it comes to those whose symptoms include paranoia, doctors are in fact the enemy). It's a fool's errand until an effective medication regimen is underway.

It is worth noting that the tether to reality is consensus-based, and that noone really knows why the drugs work. For example, consider philosophical idealism as compared to philosophical dualism or materialism. Besides materialism the other two frameworks have a long and respected history. One could say the medication is a transpersonal mental process as seen from across a dissociative boundary. So reality should really be in quotes.

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