Early help key to recovery

Star: PETALING JAYA: In most cases, schizophrenics who attack people had been denied treatment, said an expert.
In the light of several recent incidents, in which schizophrenics had killed loved ones, University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) psychological medicine department head Prof Dr Mohd Hussain Habil called on families of schizophrenics to send them for treatment.
He said they should not hide schizophrenics at home or consult bomohs and traditional healers.
“Although the percentage of violent schizophrenics is only 5%, it is enough to cause harm to their families,” he said, adding that those who turned violent were more prone to attack people closest to them, such as their parents, siblings or neighbours.
He noted that in Malaysia, most schizophrenics lived at home as their families still wanted to care for them.
Hence, it was important they get treatment early, he told a press briefing on Monday in conjunction with Schizophrenia Awareness Month.
Prof Mohd Hussain said many families waited too long, sometimes up to two years after the onset of schizophrenia, to send their loved ones for treatment.
“The sufferer's condition would have deteriorated during that time,” he said.
UMMC consultant psychiatrist Dr Ahmad Hatim Sulaiman said those suffering from schizophrenia sometimes claimed that they saw ghosts and heard voices.
He said the common belief was that these people were possessed.
“It is a medical problem,” he pointed out, adding that another common symptom of schizophrenia was an inclination to talk nonsense.
He said modern medicine used for treating schizophrenics had been effective, with 46% of patients on newer drugs going back to work.
Prof Mohd Hussain also said several proposals had been submitted to the Health Ministry to improve the support system for these patients – treating them in the community instead of institutions, medical insurance coverage, and categorising them as people with disabilities so that they could receive financial support and job opportunities.
He noted, however, that medicine was the main platform before patients could accept other forms of treatment such as rehabilitation, where they learn anger management, social skills, living skills and relaxation therapy.