Schizophrenia :: Schizophrenia – a major mental problem

The word schizophrenia originated from Greek word Schiz(o) – means division, divided. phrenia – means mental disorder.

Definition- A mental disorder or group of disorders characterized by disturbance in the form and content of thought, in mood, in sense of self and relation to external world and in Behaviour.

It is well known truth that when a person is affected with mental illness, He or She is not treated in the same way as when one is affected with physical, illness in term of its disabilities and chronicity. Schizophrenia is the most serious of all psychiatric illnesses; it affects 1% of population.

There is no doubt that Schizophrenia can be transmitted genetically. Relatives of Schizophrenia have a risk of developing Schizophrenia much higher than the general population. Commonly the onset is before the age of 45 years.

A normal adolescence can develop depression slowly and after some more time suddenly. He or She laughs loudly even alone, muttering, becomes injurious, smiles, abuses, hurts, without any cause. The patient lives in his own environment, can not do his daily routine. In Aphorism 210 Dr. Hahnemann says “Mental disease is one sided disease in which the mental symptoms are most prominent. It is not a separate class of disease as all disease have prominent mental symptoms.”

These mental diseases are nothing more than corporeal diseases in which symptom of the mind are increased, whilst the corporeal symptoms decline.

Classification:-
(i) Catatonic – A form characterized by psychomotor disturbances which may be manifested by marked decrease in reactivity to the environment or spontaneous activity and apparently purposeless motor activity.
(ii) Childhood – on set is before puberty marked by autistic, withdrawal behavior.
(iii)Hebephrenic – A form marked by frequent incoherence, loosening of association, shallow, in appropriate affect giggling silly behavior and Mannerisms, regression and hypochondriasis.
(iv) Paranoid – A form characterized by delusion of grandeur or persecution often with hallucination.

Clinical Features –
1. The experience of having thoughts put into one’s mind by another person.
2. The experience of one’s own thoughts being taken away.
3. Sensation as if one’s thoughts are known to other people.
4. Voices discussing the patient in the third person. One or more voices keeping up a running commentary on the patient’s thought or action.
5. A primary delusion which arise from a normal perception which is given delusional significance.
6. Patient nature may be religious or sexual a condition of delusion.
7. Visual, olfactory, tactile hallucination.
8. Patient speaks newly framed words.
9. Patient laughs without appropriate stimulus.
10. Thinking lacks a logical flow and appears incoherent to other people.

Treatment – symptomatic Homoeopathic medicine should be given on totality of symptoms.
1. Thioproperazium – It is a important medicine it is indicated for schizoid states, and Schizophrenia (Catatonia, Hebephrenia, Dementia Procode)
i. Feeling of being separated from the world
ii. Sensation as is brain is heavy, mental confusion, forgot letter.
iii. Disgust for tobacco and wine but smoking and drinking always more and more.
iv. Itching of anus, always more towards the evening in bed.
v. Constipation with hard stool, difficult to evacuate
2. Haloperidolum –
i. Sensation of un realty “I am away from myself and from others”. Does not know what he does, everything is gummed gradually.
ii. Permanent sensation of depression of mind with a more euphoric state towards evening.
iii. Hyper salivation, Desire for salty foods, morning nausea, false urgency for stool and constipation.
3. Chlorpromazinum –
i. Hallucination, disturbed sleep.
ii Cortico – endocrino-thalamic derangement towards involutive psychopathy.
4. Annhalonium lewinii
i. audio-visual hallucinations, noises or touch is perceived by a colored vision
ii. Depersonalization.
5. Cresol –
i. Schizoid state with euphoria and loquacity.
ii. simple schizoidia of children.
6. Livomepro mazinum –
i. Feels himself panicked with desire to cry for help.
ii. Fear of becoming mad, aggravated in crowd.
iii. aggravated by milk, milk preparations

Other medicines should also be considered Cicuta virosa, convolvus stanus, corticotropinum, Psilocy be cacrulescens, Reserinum, Sulfanalamidum, Thalamus

Reference –
1 Practice of Medicine by Davidson
2. Synthetic Repertory by Barthel
3. Dictionary of Materia Medica. O. A. Julian

Dr. Rakesh Chauhan,
Narayan Pura, Gursarai
Jhansi (U.P.)


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