by Eric Hughes, M.D., Ph.D.
Societal perceptions of schizophrenia are sometimes sensationalized and shrouded in stigmas that may result in misconceptions and the unfold of inaccurate info each exterior and inside the neighborhood. These detrimental or false beliefs can come from media, cultural attitudes, and institutional bias (employers, police, and even the medical neighborhood), impacting sufferers’ therapy journeys and probably holding them from optimizing their illness administration.
Amongst sufferers with schizophrenia, caregivers, and well being care suppliers, a standard false impression is that use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) is simply acceptable for extreme instances. Nonetheless, LAIs could also be appropriate for a wide range of sufferers and even utilized in early therapy to permit for improved adherence – the affected person receiving the medicine as prescribed – and high quality of life. For that reason, they’re sometimes advisable to sufferers preferring LAIs or who might battle to stick to a each day oral routine.
As well as, relapse continues to be an ongoing and complicated problem confronted by many schizophrenia sufferers, with charges estimated to be between 50-92% globally. LAIs assist to take care of steady blood ranges and have been proven to cut back the chance of relapse. Regardless of the confirmed effectiveness, LAIs are solely used as first-line therapy choices within the U.S. about 4% of the time.
It’s essential to make clear a number of the different frequent misconceptions of LAIs, together with:
False impression #1: Therapy value is out of attain
A mess of private and non-private insurance policy might help cowl the price of LAI antipsychotics, and in some instances the drug producer may additionally present help.
False impression #2: Sufferers choose oral therapy
Within the well being care neighborhood, oral medicine is often the usual first selection therapy of schizophrenia, particularly for first-episode sufferers, because of the assumption that sufferers choose it. Nonetheless, there are examples of schizophrenia sufferers and their kin with favorable notion of LAIs. Due to this fact, it’s essential for well being care suppliers to supply injectable LAIs as an choice to their sufferers early of their therapy journey, which permits sufferers to debate advantages and dangers of various therapy choices with their docs to search out the one most acceptable for them.
False impression #3: Therapy with LAIs is a punishment
A psychotic episode could be a traumatic expertise that could be additional compounded by a necessity for hospitalization, which may go away sufferers ambivalent about receiving drugs involuntarily. Traditionally, this has created a detrimental notion of injectable remedies, however attitudes might change throughout illness relapse and remission intervals. At this time’s LAIs supply therapy choices for sufferers and docs that will assist meet the affected person’s wants or preferences.
Elevating consciousness of those misconceptions has the potential to assist sufferers and caregivers take into account probably the most acceptable therapy choice for them. Ought to any individual consider LAIs could also be useful to their therapy journey, they’re inspired to start out a dialog with their physician.
Eric Hughes, M.D., Ph.D., is the chief vp of worldwide analysis and improvement and chief medical officer at Teva Prescription drugs.
October 2023
PSYCH-40561
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The views and opinions expressed on this weblog solely belong to the writer, and exterior content material doesn’t essentially mirror the views of Psychological Well being America.
