What Are the Most Common Treatments for Paranoid Schizophrenia?
Paranoid schizophrenia is a disorder characterized by psychosis, or a distorted perception of reality that usually involves auditory hallucinations and beliefs that are not based in reality, or delusions. Treatments for paranoid schizophrenia typically come in the form of antipsychotic medications combined with psychotherapy, hospitalization when necessary, electroconvulsive therapy, and skill training. Such a complex and diverse approach to treatments for paranoid schizophrenia is important because psychoses such as schizophrenia tend to affect almost every aspect of a person’s life, so the disorder must be attacked from many fronts to keep it manageable. Antipsychotic drugs are the most common of all of the available treatments for paranoid schizophrenia. The exact mechanisms through which antipsychotic drugs work is not particularly well understood, but they are thought to affect neurotransmitters, or chemicals used for signaling purposes in the brain. While they tend to be effectiv
