Schizophrenia is associated with multiple disorders of the brain, including hallucinations, delusions, and other behaviors. One may think that medication is the only way cure. Although medication plays a huge role in symptom control, there are other alternatives.
According to an article on MSNBC.com entitled “Video game brain training shows promise for schizophrenics”, cognitive ability is a core asset in controlling the mind and it’s thoughts, and schizophrenia debilitates that skill. “The medications we now have for schizophrenia are good for symptom reduction,” Sophia Vinogradov, professor of psychiatry at UC-San Francisco, told Discovery News, “but they’re not great at all — they do nothing — for the cognitive deficits, which are really part of the core assets of the illness and the functional impairment of the illness.”
To improve the second half of the problem, Vinogradov created a specialized video game intended to train the brain to be strengthened against everyday problems schizophrenia patients suffer from. Some of the attributes patients set out to expand are memory, attention and problem solving.
These computer treatments, along with medication, can be incorporated in the everyday lives of patients, and through training it will significantly improve the daily functioning of life for those trying to overcome this disease.
Pasadena Villa’s Smoky Mountain Lodge is an adult intensive psychiatric residential treatment center for clients with serious mental illnesses. We also provide other individualized therapy programs, step-down residential programs, and less intensive mental health services, such as Community Residential Homes, Supportive Housing, Day Treatment Programs and Life Skills training. Pasadena Villa’s Outpatient Center in Raleigh, North Carolina offers partial hospitalization (PHP) and an intensive outpatient program (PHP). If you or someone you know may need mental health services, please complete our contact form or call us at 407-215-2519 for more information.
Source:
Nbcnews.com
