Schizophrenia!

[coolboy]

Hi,
Has someone experience with this method on a person with diagnosed schizophrenia?
Regards

[Louisa]

Hi there, I do not have any experience of this technique but I do have some experience of schizophrenia, I would say it very much depends on the individual and their individual care plan.

Personally, I would attempt to work with care professionals (if such people exist) My sarcasm relates to my own experience!

I did find this blog, which you may find useful.

Holistic Recovery from Schizophrenia: The Alexander Technique

Best wishes.

[CarolineN]

Originally Posted by coolboy

Hi,
Has someone experience with this method on a person with diagnosed schizophrenia?
Regards

Hi Coolboy

Welcome to HP. I believe there are all sorts that will help in a person with a diagnosis of schizophrenia - a devastating position to be in for both the person involved and their family and friends. I don't have experience of Alexander technique.

One of the best places to look for information is Patrick Holford's New Optimum Nutrition for Mind - see here, particularly chapters 25 and 26. He says there are seven possible treatable causes. We started with the first - gluten intolerance - and after a food intolerance test, we cut out all the foods that proved positive and within 4 days my client was a different person!! Now I'm not saying this is possible with someone else, just that if you find the key it is possible to make a very big difference to a person's life. The book is a mine of information and fully referenced (34 pages), so if you want to persue anything further then there are very many leads to follow up. It is also client-friendly, with full information about nutrition, supplements and lifestyle changes that may help. Very well worth the cost of the book!!

However don't expect any psychiatrist to believe that you can make a difference with diet or supplements, even when you give them the paperwork. - you can quote pellagra (the illness of niacin deficiency where those with it were incarcerated in assylums for the insane in the early 1900s, even after it was shown that it was curable by improving their diet), as an example if you like, but their comment will be that this is not pellagra!

Phillip Day's book The Mind Game makes interesting reading. This one may also be helpful in understanding the role of processed foods in illness.

I would recommend seeing a nutritional therapist who will help the client through the process of understanding what needs to be done and to organise any helpful tests. The NT will look at the whole person (not just 'bits' as in conventional medicine) and see where help is needed. Find a qualified Nutritional Therapist here. The really difficult part is getting the client to stay on the specific diet, as so often they will say they aren't ill and refuse to change. It takes a lot of patience, perseverence and love to keep them on the straight and narrow, so to speak.

Hope that's helpful -

All the best.