Treatment for Schizophrenia

My highschool friend is definitely showing some signs of schizophrenia, and it's pretty depressing to watch his overall mental stability decline. I've done some research, and the only conclusive information I came across was that omega-3 supplementation significantly decreased the incidence of schizophrenia in high-risk groups. I read somewhere that casein and gluten might also have some causative role in schizophrenia. Does anyone have input?

i read somewhere that it had to do with a heavy metal issue.. i think it was copper (somethign that started with a c, i think this might be it)

i read this a while ago so sorry i'm foggy on the details. from what i remember, the article said something about a hair analysis showing obvious results of a high amount of what i think was copper.

maybe get him a hair analysis for heavy metals and see if anything comes up high.

GAPS diet proposes that mental illnesses like schizophrenia have some root in the gut, too, just FYI if you didn't know.

Problem with people who are scizophrenic is that it's hard to get them to comply with anything that might do them good. If they're stable compliance becomes much easier, but it's getting them stabilized that's the bugger. Then long-term compliance is still dicey. Especially with something that requires a lot of discipline like a diet/eating style. I have two cousins (adopted, but are blood brother & sister) who are scizophrenic. I used to try to talk to my female cousin (the more calm, normal of the two) about diet, supplements and things that might help her, but while she was interested, her attempts never lasted more than a few weeks. Which is actually typical of non-schizo's, too, but it's compounded with the mentally ill.

Also to consider is that strictly implementing something like an eating style to address schizophrenia, along with natural remedies like healthy oils and other supplements would also require across-the-board cooperation from doctors, health facility staff, and family. The sick person would have to be monitored, someone would have to cook specially for them and watch them constantly so that they are not sneaking things that are bad for them or cheating in some way. This is unlikely to happen, since most doctors and health facilities are all about the pharmaceuticals and will actually refuse to treat patients with families who don't want drugs and who want to go alternate routes.

It's just a really, really difficult thing to deal with, for everyone concerned. I'm really sorry to hear about your friend, and hope it doesn't turn out to be schizophrenia. I wish him and his family the best.

whodathunkit wrote:GAPS diet proposes that mental illnesses like schizophrenia have some root in the gut, too, just FYI if you didn't know.

Problem with people who are scizophrenic is that it's hard to get them to comply with anything that might do them good. If they're stable compliance becomes much easier, but it's getting them stabilized that's the bugger. Then long-term compliance is still dicey. Especially with something that requires a lot of discipline like a diet/eating style. I have two cousins (adopted, but are blood brother & sister) who are scizophrenic. I used to try to talk to my female cousin (the more calm, normal of the two) about diet, supplements and things that might help her, but while she was interested, her attempts never lasted more than a few weeks. Which is actually typical of non-schizo's, too, but it's compounded with the mentally ill.

Also to consider is that strictly implementing something like an eating style to address schizophrenia, along with natural remedies like healthy oils and other supplements would also require across-the-board cooperation from doctors, health facility staff, and family. The sick person would have to be monitored, someone would have to cook specially for them and watch them constantly so that they are not sneaking things that are bad for them or cheating in some way. This is unlikely to happen, since most doctors and health facilities are all about the pharmaceuticals and will actually refuse to treat patients with families who don't want drugs and who want to go alternate routes.

It's just a really, really difficult thing to deal with, for everyone concerned. I'm really sorry to hear about your friend, and hope it doesn't turn out to be schizophrenia. I wish him and his family the best.

Yeah, it's hard to even communicate with him now because he'll start rambling about nonsensical topics. He doesn't consume animal products anymore because he sees it as a moral dilemma. I recommended krill oil, and he asked me if the krill get killed during the extraction process . As of late he doesn't respond to texts/calls anymore so things are looking pretty bleak.

I heard about GAPS diet as a potential treatment for schizophrenia. It would make sense, especially considering that casein and gluten have been implicated in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The diseases associated with casein- or gluten-sensitivity are due to the immunologic response to the proteins, and this most likely involves impaired barrier function of the gut.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14732596?dopt=abstractplus