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Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia services offered in Irvine Spectrum, Irvine, CA

Schizophrenia poses severe challenges and intense symptoms that can impact every facet of your life. For better outcomes, visit Even Better Mood Clinic in Irvine, California, where George Tun, MD, offers exceptional psychiatric treatment for schizophrenia. For more information about personalized care plans that may include medication management, therapy, and ongoing support to pursue a fulfilling life, schedule a consultation today by phone or online.

What is schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that impacts how you think about and perceive the world. 

A primary symptom of schizophrenia is psychosis, which makes it difficult to perceive reality as it is. It can interfere with your daily life and make it challenging or impossible to interact with other people.

Schizophrenia requires lifelong treatment. However, there’s good news. Early treatment can alleviate symptoms before they turn into serious complications, improving care outcomes in the long term.

What are the symptoms of schizophrenia?

This disorder can cause several serious symptoms, including:


Disorganized thinking and speech

Psychosis causes chaotic, disjointed, and illogical thoughts. Because your speech follows your train of thought, you may say things that don’t make sense, mix words up, jump from topic to topic too quickly to be understood, or stop talking altogether mid-sentence.


Delusions

If you have delusions, you become convinced of something untrue, such as having great personal notoriety or that someone is trying to control you.


Disorganized behaviors

Similar to speech patterns that don’t make sense, disorganized behaviors are senseless, repetitive, or even dangerous actions. Schizophrenia can lead to performing activities that seem bizarre to others or to stop moving and speaking entirely, referred to as catatonia.


Hallucinations

Hallucinations involve perceiving something to be real that isn’t actually there. This can include hearing voices as well as experiencing sensations of taste, touch, or smell.

How can I tell if I or a loved one has schizophrenia?

There are some external signs that a person may be experiencing schizophrenia. These include:

  • Being unable to enjoy activities
  • Lacking typical emotions
  • Neglecting personal hygiene
  • Preferring to isolate from others

These are also called “negative symptoms” because they are an absence of the emotions and behaviors you usually expect.

What can I expect from schizophrenia treatment?

After a thorough psychiatric evaluation, the Even Better Mood Clinic team can recommend antipsychotic medications to reduce or prevent future psychotic episodes. In addition to medication management, you may benefit from psychotherapy (talk therapy) to cope better, recognize warning signs, and improve life skills.

Therapy can also help you build healthier relationships, manage anger, deal with issues at work, or overcome other problems that accompany schizophrenia, such as sleep disorders like insomnia.

To start taking steps toward a brighter future, call the caring team at Even Better Mood Clinic to book your appointment. You can also schedule online, and telehealth is available.