Question

Rachel’s father has severe schizophrenia; he has experienced several episodes of psychosis, but is unaware of his disorder. As her father does not know he has a disorder, he does not see the necessity for treatment. Rachel wants to respect his autonomy but feels that treatment is the best option and that he is unfit to make an objective decision about it. Is there a treatment that would be least compromising of his autonomy?

Answer 1

The first treatment option I believe a physiatrist would start with is simply talking with this perPsychological Treatments. Attempting to guide them through cognitive thinking to help them realize where they are even if the patient doesn’t understand the severity of the situation. At this point even if the patient believes he has a less serious condition he would be more inclined to take some type of medication to assist, by not tricking him into taking a medication and saying its for something else altogether you don’t ruin the trust as well as take away that full autonomy. Hoping in the end the right medication will lead to a clearer thought behavior so the patient can better understand the reality of the situation. That is the ideal situations.