Sam has been a very successful student in terms of passing hard classes and working on projects outside of school. He had his eyes set on medical school at an Ivy League institution. However, during Thanksgiving break of his senior year, he has been sleeping in and being late to school often, as well as not taking care of himself (hygienic). There also has been evidence of him losing interest in school and future college ambitions. Because of this, he failed two courses and his teachers took notice and contacted his parents to voice their concerns. During winter break, Sam displayed interest in “extrasensory perception” as well as a theory of medicine consisting of human teleportation and being able to heal people’s diseases in a spiritual
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Since his parents seem worried and tried to convince him about the reality of his delusions, it’s fair to assume that the genetic factors don’t play much of a role. He also has no siblings stated. However, there are strong links with genetics and the development of Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a polygenic disorder, caused by a combination of gene defects (Comer, 2004). There is research showing a link between excessive dopamine activity and Schizophrenia. Environmental factors like trauma, stress, and sociocultural factors play a crucial role as well. But in Sam’s case, extreme stress could be the most prominent reason as to why it developed and why it developed now. The stress of trying to succeed in academics and getting into an Ivy League school perhaps brought it on. Sam had been “pushing himself extremely hard since fall of junior year.” The extreme stress in academics is the most pronounced causal …show more content…
That is, it is best to combat this disorder with both drugs and psychotherapy. For Sam, the most effective drugs he could be put on would be antipsychotic medications. Neuroleptic drugs are usually the drug of choice, and I would recommend Sam to take them. They help by blocking activity of dopamine and as a result, it helps with the psychotic symptoms, like delusions and hallucinations. Second-generation neuroleptic antipsychotic drugs appear to be effective than the conventional ones. They do a better job at reducing negative symptoms more so than the conventional drugs (Fenton et al., 2000). Most clinicians today prescribe the lowest dose that is effective and try to lower the dose as the conditions improve (Comer, 2004). A majority of people taking the antipsychotic drugs show improvement in a matter of weeks and usually see the peak improvement around within six months of therapy. The lowest dose that proves to be effective for Sam is
Since his parents seem worried and tried to convince him about the reality of his delusions, it’s fair to assume that the genetic factors don’t play much of a role. He also has no siblings stated. However, there are strong links with genetics and the development of Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a polygenic disorder, caused by a combination of gene defects (Comer, 2004). There is research showing a link between excessive dopamine activity and Schizophrenia. Environmental factors like trauma, stress, and sociocultural factors play a crucial role as well. But in Sam’s case, extreme stress could be the most prominent reason as to why it developed and why it developed now. The stress of trying to succeed in academics and getting into an Ivy League school perhaps brought it on. Sam had been “pushing himself extremely hard since fall of junior year.” The extreme stress in academics is the most pronounced causal …show more content…
That is, it is best to combat this disorder with both drugs and psychotherapy. For Sam, the most effective drugs he could be put on would be antipsychotic medications. Neuroleptic drugs are usually the drug of choice, and I would recommend Sam to take them. They help by blocking activity of dopamine and as a result, it helps with the psychotic symptoms, like delusions and hallucinations. Second-generation neuroleptic antipsychotic drugs appear to be effective than the conventional ones. They do a better job at reducing negative symptoms more so than the conventional drugs (Fenton et al., 2000). Most clinicians today prescribe the lowest dose that is effective and try to lower the dose as the conditions improve (Comer, 2004). A majority of people taking the antipsychotic drugs show improvement in a matter of weeks and usually see the peak improvement around within six months of therapy. The lowest dose that proves to be effective for Sam is