Original studyPsychreg Journal of Psychology, 2018Read the paper →
For people with schizophrenia, remembering to take daily tablets can be hard, and missed doses often lead to relapse. Injections that last for weeks have long been available, but they carry a stigma. A paper argues that a newer injection lasting three months should change how clinicians and patients think about treatment.
A psychotherapist with the Trauma Therapist Project in the United States set out the case in a discussion paper. It appears in Psychreg Journal of Psychology. The paper draws on the author’s clinical experience and earlier research rather than new data.
The paper focuses on people diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. It argues that the three-month injection is a large step forward in how antipsychotic medicine is given, and that it opens up more choice for patients.
An intramuscular injection is given into a muscle, from where the medicine is released slowly over time. Antipsychotics are drugs used to reduce symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. Schizoaffective disorder combines symptoms of schizophrenia with those of a mood disorder.
According to the paper, people on oral medicine relapse more often, which keeps care focused on crises. Long-acting injections, in the author’s experience, work more reliably and lead to fewer relapses. That could free clinicians and patients to set goals around hopes and ambitions rather than simply keeping symptoms under control.
The author argues that injections have too often been seen as something for people labelled non-compliant, or used in forced treatment in hospital or under court-ordered community care. He calls for that stigma to end, and for injections to be seen as one option for people committed to their recovery.
The paper says it should not be taken as a recommendation to use any treatment. Instead, it aims to start a conversation, add to patients’ knowledge and stress the importance of choice.
The paper has clear limits. It is an opinion piece based largely on one clinician’s experience, and it does not report trial data on the three-month injection. Decisions about medication should always be made with a doctor.
The paper argues that the new injection shows clinicians taking patient choice more seriously. It hopes the days of describing people with schizophrenia as untreatable or dangerous will soon belong to the past.
