Friday, May 08, 2009 dfowler1976 asks

Q: Does psychosis cause brain damage?

I have read that schizophrenia "ravages the brain," and eats away at brain matter sometimes taking away 10% of the matter. To me this obviously implies brain damage. But my psychiatrist, who is from the now famous Freedom Trail Clinic at MGH, told me the jury is still out on this one. Do you happen to know the latest research to this question? I suffer from moderate to severe cognitive impairment and this is most obvious seen in my memory loss in long, short, and working memory and my learning as well. Any information that could shed light on this important question would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Devon

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Answers (4)

Christina Bruni, Health Guide

5/ 9/09 11:44am

Hi Devon,

I will research this.

What I do know is something else: the longer a person has gone without SZ meds after a psychotic break, there's a loss of functioning and brain tissue could be affected adversely. After a certain point, you can't get this back, or it will certainly be harder to get it back.

You asked a different question so I will do my best to answer you in a second reply shortly.

Regards,

Christina

dfowler1976

8/12/09 5:26pm

Just wondering if you came up with any new research for my question. Here is just one article from sz.com website there are others from other websites. http://www.schizophrenia.com/disease.htm

Tell me what you think!

devon

Christina Bruni, Health Guide

8/13/09 8:34am

Hello Devon,

It would be interesting to read a study that talks about whether there is more loss of tissue when someone doesn't take meds versus if they do take the SZ meds.

This definitely isn't a good thing.

I hope news comes shortly about new drugs or methods of stopping or halting this loss.

The link you gave is the best I've seen so far and I'll be using it to write a SharePost in early September.

Regards,

Christina

lenlemp

12/ 5/10 3:55pm

Actually autopsies done many years ago before the neuroleptics were introduced showed no evidence of organic differences in schizophrenics. There is some evidence that the loss of brain matter is actually caused by the medications. The story that they somehow protect your brain is more big pharma marketting then any real scientific evidence. If anything loss term neuroleptic meds are associated with loss of cognitive functioning. They are truly more like chemical strait jackets than providing any sort of brain protective functioning. Don't believe much of what the pharmaceutical companies or your psychiatrist tells you. Most psychiatrists are simply sales people for the pharmaceutical companies. Read Robert Whitakers book Anatomy of an Epidemic if you want more details on this subject. Since meds have been introduced we are creating class of people disabled by these meds.

tasha

4/12/10 8:36pm

hi i have skitzophrenia .and didnt take my medication for one year .i had bad psycosis and ended up in hospital.since then it has taken me 4 years to recover .i have lost some of my functioning .and dont know if ill ever get it back .so i would say skitzophrenia does cause brain damage.

cybersleuth58

1/31/11 6:19pm

Since the advent of Computerized Tomography there has been evidence, although controversial, which suggests there is actual structural change to the brains of schizophrenics.

There have been organic findings such as changes to the lateral ventricles. Again, while this is open to debate, there have been findings to suggest that there is a reduction in the volume of the brain in schizophrenic people.

Studies have shown abnormal activity in the frontal lobe areas. The temporal lobes also show evidence of changes.

There is some good info available about this:

http://www.emental-health.com/schiz_structure.htm

Brain structure and function: how do volume changes relate to symptoms:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/166/2/134

I just realized that these questions were asked a while back. I hope that these answers might help someone who was asking these questions. Bottom line, there is evidence that there are structural changes with schizophrenia but please remember that this is all very open to debate and requires further study.

Good luck!!

brainrobber

3/ 7/11 11:56pm

Dr. Grace E Jackson and others will say your are wrong.

The Soteria experiment showed that long-term recovery was better without antipsychotics.

Also a study by NIMH (I believe it was NIMN) showed short-term improvement with meds and long-term relapse.

This is a controversial subject and the pharm industry is controlling much of the info.

New public releast by Stanford University and others warn of the severe damage caused by neuroleptics ---- new advise is to use the smallest amount for the shortest duration.

homeopathics and orthomolecular are good choices or good for transition off drugs.

Donna-1

3/10/11 11:36am

Just speaking from personal experience, I believe that antipsychotic medication is the only thing that rescued me from the hell of schizophrenia. Until I found the medication that worked best for me, I was hospitalized many times. Now I have not been in the hospital since 2002 and am still taking an antipsychotic. If I stop taking it, I relapse quickly. And I don't think this supports the argument that the meds cause the problems/relapses. I think the illness is just such that in most cases, medication is required for improved function and recovery. Yes, there has been an increase in mental illness since the 1700's but there were no neuroleptics for many, many years after the increase began. Just why that is the case is still unknown.

Q: Does psychosis cause brain damage?

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