Living With
Schizophrenia?
Take Charge of Your Mental Health
Medications for schizophrenia are called antipsychotics, and although they don’t cure schizophrenia, they can help control symptoms if taken as prescribed. There are a couple of ways that medications vary.
How do I take medication?
Injection: Given by a healthcare professional, and the medication is gradually released for a specific period of time between doses
Oral: Pill or liquid taken once or multiple times a day
While medication can help control symptoms, counseling can help you understand symptoms and learn better ways to communicate with others.
There are 2 kinds of counseling that you might find useful.Psychotherapy is a talk therapy that can help you better understand symptoms and how to manage them. Types of therapy include:
- Individual therapy: Learn how to deal with thoughts and behaviors
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: Learn how to change thoughts and behaviors
- Cognitive enhancement therapy: Learn how to better organize thoughts, recognize social cues, and improve attention and memory
Psychosocial therapy comes after you see some improvement during psychotherapy sessions and you want to learn how to work better within your community in various ways:
- Skills training to improve communication and interaction
- Job counseling, money management, and problem-solving support
- Family education to help your support system
- Community treatment to proactively prevent crises
- Help with setting and achieving goals
Both medication and counseling can help control symptoms and develop a greater understanding of how to deal with them, but there are a few important things that you can do to navigate your treatment journey.
- Have a positive attitude, even when it may be difficult
- Stay active and exercise to help manage stress and keep your body moving. Talk to your healthcare professional before starting an exercise regimen
- Help your body work its very best by getting plenty of sleep, eating healthy foods, and avoiding drugs and alcohol
- Stay connected to your friends and family
Set goals to work toward short-term and long-term goals to keep you focused and moving forward.
Not taking your medication is a common cause of schizophrenia episodes. Switching from oral medication to a long-acting injectable (LAI) can lower the risk because it is given by a healthcare provider.
*In a clinical study of 444 patients, adherence was defined as filling a prescription at least
80% of the time over a 15-month period,
based on pharmacy refill records.
1. Alphs L, Benson C, Cheshire-Kinney K, et al. Real-world outcomes of paliperidone
palmitate compared to daily oral
antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenia: a
randomized, open-label, review board-
blinded 15-month study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015;76(5):554-561.
vs 66% on placebo.2‡
†Only J&J conducted this clinical study.
‡The most common adverse events that happened in ≥2 of patients in the double-blind phase of this trial who received INVEGA SUSTENNA were weight increase 7%, nose and throat infection 4%, headache 3%, blood glucose increase 3%, viral stomach infection 2%, and tremor 2%.
2. INVEGA SUSTENNA [Prescribing Information]. Titusville, NJ: Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
§The most common adverse events of patients in this trial who received INVEGA SUSTENNA were weight increase 16%, headache 11%, insomnia 10%, schizophrenia 8%, and nasopharyngitis 7%.
‖This 24-month international study evaluating INVEGA SUSTENNA vs a group of 6 common oral antipsychotics was conducted in 26 countries, excluding the United States.
¶All patients diagnosed 1 to 5 years previously with ≥2 relapses requiring hospitalization.
3. Schreiner A, Aadamsoo K, Altamura AC, et al. Paliperidone palmitate
versus oral antipsychotics in recently diagnosed schizophrenia. Schizophr Res. 2015;169(1-3):393-399.
Tips for Treatment
Staying on track with your treatment process can be difficult sometimes, but it’s important to stay positive and find the support you need to get through any challenging times that come up. Here are a few other tips to help you stay on track.
Lean on your support system, and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
Keep a record of your treatment, medication(s), and health history.
Take medication regularly as your treatment team prescribes, and go to all of your appointments.
The Treatment Process
The more you know about your condition the more you can do about it.
Gaining deeper knowledge about schizophrenia can help you understand the different types of medication that can treat it and better recognize symptoms and early signs of an episode so you know when to talk to your treatment team to get help.
Your treatment team works with you to put together a treatment plan based on what will benefit you the most.
It typically includes 3 components:
- Staying on medication even if you’re feeling better, since stopping medication—or not taking it exactly as your healthcare professional instructs—could cause symptoms to return
- Looking after your overall health by doing things like getting a yearly physical examination, quitting unhealthy habits like smoking or drinking, and making sure you have a daily routine that includes a healthy diet and exercise
- Feeling supported by taking advantage of mental health resources, like talking with a therapist and local community programs
Experiencing an episode
An episode can be an uncertain time for someone living with schizophrenia. It is defined as a relapse of symptoms after a person has received a diagnosis and has been feeling better for a period of time on treatment.
Schizophrenia is an unpredictable mental health condition, and an episode can be scary for the person experiencing it and their loved ones. However, you are not alone. Because schizophrenia symptoms can be triggered by events in daily life, an episode can happen even if you are taking your medicine correctly.
To make sure you get help as early as possible, it’s important for your care partner and you to learn recognizable early signs and alert your healthcare professional as soon as you see them. The sooner early warning signs of an episode are recognized, the sooner healthcare professionals can help treat it.
Some things to watch for include:
- Restlessness
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Trouble with thinking and
concentration - Worrying
- Lack of self-confidence
- Lack of energy or motivation
- Poor work performance
- Paranoia
- Trouble communicating
- Social withdrawal
You can set your own goals and work toward them in your own way, which means you get to decide what success looks and feels like. Goals can be short term or long term, small or large, and can change over time—there are no right or wrong goals. What matters is that your goals are important to you and are things that you want to accomplish in your life. Starting with small goals is a great way to gain momentum and work toward larger and more long-term ones.
Progress Begins With a Plan
What matters most to you in your treatment?
If you’re living with schizophrenia, starting your journey with this worksheet gives you the space to organize your thoughts about what you would like out of your medication. This will set you up for successful conversations with your loved ones and treatment team.
The care partner journey begins with a treatment health plan
For care partners, downloading the Treatment Health Plan may be the ideal starting point for your journey. Setting short-term and long-term goals for both you and your loved ones can help keep you on track.
every step of the way.
Could an LAI be right for you?
