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Catatonic Schizophrenia and You
Anjelica Montano
Jason Priest
Cody Peterson
Background and Significance
Results and Discussion
• Schizophrenia is a category of severe brain disorders in which
people interpret reality in abnormal ways. This paper is focused
on catatonic schizophrenia, its past/current treatments, and
ethical issues that arise with this topic.
• Mental illnesses were once treated through now considered
torturous activities. Schizophrenic patients past treatments
included hypnosis, free association, dream analysis,
electroconvulsive therapy, psychosurgery, insulin-shock therapy,
and psychopharmacology. In 1938, Italian physicians Ugo Cerletti
and Lucio Bini administered the first electric shock therapy to a
schizophrenic patient and received successful results. This
treatment soon became widespread, but was mostly used in
America and Europe. ECT was used to intimidate, control, and
punish patients, some were subjected to this treatment over a
hundred times (Foerschiner 2010). This history helps research to
develop better treatments for schizophrenia, more effective ways
of diagnosing the disease, and help to reduce the abuse that
mentally ill patients sometimes encounter.
• We will be using Kant’s categorical imperative to test if the
treatment of the patients is ethically justified. The changing of the
treatment would reduce the abuse of the patients during
treatment and would help doctors perform more advanced tests
for the specific disease.
• In a study conducted in 2003 by Kazumasa Suzuki MD, Shuichi
Awata MD, and Hiroo Matsuoka MD, 11 patients were committed
to an ECT treatment to test its effectiveness against schizophrenia.
All patients responded positively to the treatment, and none
experienced any cognitive or physical effects. This treatment had
a 1 year relapse occurrence of symptoms of 63.6%. This
treatment was effective in helping the symptoms of catatonic
schizophrenia over a relatively short period of time.
• In a study performed by Peter Gaszner and Zoltan Makkos records
from over 1000 patients treated the drug clozapine during the
past 22 years were examined. 782 of these patients were
diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria.
From this group of patients, 181 were treated with clozapine for
at least one year. The control group was composed of 152 patients
of long term maintenance therapy with the drug haloperidol.
Clozapine administered for long term maintenance was proven
effective for both paranoid and catatonic schizophrenia. Although
the relapse rate was similar to the haloperidol group, patient
compliance, side effect profile, and therapeutic efficacy were all
superior in the clozapine group.
• The hospitalizing and medicating of every patient might seem to
be unethical and morally wrong because the patients right to
choose will be taken away. But, the act of hospitalizing and
medicating the patients is for the benefit of the patients and
society. Doing this would lead to the elimination of traumatic
events and will decrease a large percentage of the suicide
attempts and behavioral incidents that the patients perform. The
intentions of hospitalizing and medication the patients would be
good for the patient, family members, and society.
Methods
• Patients with Schizophrenia go through different stages of
treatments. These treatments normally start at home with the
family looking after and taking care of them. Treatments proceed
to the patient being put on medication, including drugs such as
benzodiazepines and other mental health medication and
antidepressants(“Catatonic Schizophrenia treatments and,” 2010).
Patients may also go through ECT , where electric currents are
passed through the patients brain. A Kantian view will be used to
assess whether the methods of treatments used are ethically
justifiable. The maxim we will use to put into the categorical
imperative is; We are going to hospitalize and medicate all patients
as a better form of treatment for any mental health disorder.
Conclusions and Future Directions
•
The argument that all patients diagnosed with catatonic
schizophrenia should be hospitalized and medicated from the start
instead of trying to find a solution through other means is a
necessary argument to make for the benefit of the patients.
Patients with catatonic schizophrenia have benefited most from
medication and hospitalization. This argument does come with
future philosophical consequences of patient mistreatment and one
set plan of action for treatment, but there will always be patient
mistreatment in the medical field and without doing medication
and hospitalization first, the patient is being neglected and denied a
potentially better life. This argument can have future biological
benefits including cheaper and better working medications and
faster acting treatments that will help the patient sooner rather
than later.
Reference List
Dunn, L. C. (2005). Emerging Empirical Evidence on the Ethics of Schizophrenia Research. Retrieved from
http://schizophreniabulletin.oxfordjournals.org/content/32/1/47.short
Catatonic schizophrenia: Causes. (8, 2 20). Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/catatonicschizophrenia/DS00863/DSECTION=causes
Admin. (2011, July 17). Catatonic schizophrenia . Retrieved from http://catatonicschizophrenia.net/catatonic-schizophrenia/
Catatonic schizophrenia:treatments and drugs. (2010, December 17). Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/catatonicschizophrenia/DS00863
Suzuki, Kazumasa MD. , Awata, Shuichi MD, , & Matsuoka, Hiroo MD (2004, June). One-year outcome after response to ect in middle-aged and
elderly patients with intractable catatonic schizophrenia. Retrieved from
http://journals.lww.com/ectjournal/Abstract/2004/06000/One_year_Outcome_After_Response_to_ECT_in.5.aspx
Gaszner, Peter. , & Makkos, Zoltan (2004, January 17). Clozapine maintenance therapy in schizophrenia. Retrieved from
http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/science/article/pii/S0278584603003166
Foerschner, A. (2010). Student pulses. Retrieved from http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/283/the-history-of-mental-illness-from-skull-drillsto-happy-pills