Schizophrenia in England

[Sriram]

Hi everyone,

Here is a BBC report of today on incidence of schizophrenia in England.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39082595

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The analysis by the University of East London showed North Kesteven, in Lincolnshire, had the highest rates.

The lowest rate of schizophrenia prescriptions was in East Dorset.

The top five were:

North Kesteven, 39 per 1,000 people
Coventry, 35 per 1,000 people
Rochdale, 34 per 1,000 people
Cambridge, 34 per 1,000 people
Hastings, 33 per 1,000 people

The lowest prescribing was found in:

East Dorset, nine per 1,000 people
South Gloucestershire, 10 per 1,000 people
Tewkesbury, 10 per 1,000 people
York, 10 per 1,000 people
Epsom and Ewell, 11 per 1,000 people

*************

But even the lowest figures seem to be extraordinarily high because 9 per 1000 works out to 900 per 100000!   But the highest world figures are about 322 per 100000 in certain parts of the world (about 3 per 1000).  Something wrong with the figures?!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology_of_schizophrenia

Any views?

Sriram

[Sassy]

Schizophrenia cannot be diagnosed through prescription medication as the patient being schizophrenic.

The figures are incorrect because a patient takes 'Lithium' for example a well know medication for treatment of Schizophrenia, it does not mean the patient is suffering from Schizophrenia. Lithium can be used to treat manic depression and other mental health problems.

I personally, feel the person who prepared the figures is stabbing in the dark.

[Rhiannon]

I live in East Anglia and in parts of it drug use is rife. Maybe that is affecting the figures. I also know that Norfolk, for example, has seen massive cuts to its MH budget - it lost 50% of its acute mental health beds in 2012 and has faced further cuts. According to the NHS website diagnosis is made basically from a checklist of symptoms. Without having any specialist knowledge myself I tend to agree that this is likely to be about methods of diagnosis in areas of high prescriptions.

I'm concerned that diagnosis is done by checklist.

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Schizophrenia/Pages/Diagnosis.aspx

A relation of mine had symptoms of schizophrenia. She also has a chromosomal abnormality and I remembered another relation having the same symptoms thirty years ago. A quick google showed that a feature of her syndrome is short periods of symptoms mimicking schizophrenia. When she took the information to her MH team they'd never heard of it, although it did at least stop her being misdiagnosed and given inappropriate treatment.

[Nearly Sane]

The crucial words in the article are

'they record only prescriptions given out by GPs - not the number of patients treated'

[Sriram]

The crucial words in the article are

'they record only prescriptions given out by GPs - not the number of patients treated'

That should not make the difference of 3 per 1000 to 39 per 1000 (high).

[Nearly Sane]

That should not make the difference of 3 per 1000 to 39 per 1000 (high).

Again it's prescriptions not people. It isn't saying there are 39 people per 1000.

[Rhiannon]

And it doesn't include people exclusively treated by hospitals rather than GPs.

[Enki]

Sriram,

This study reportedly shows the number of prescriptions for schizophrenia AND OTHER PSYCHOTIC ILLNESSES based on the amount of medication prescribed by GPs in one year. Nowhere does it give figures for numbers of patients treated. Indeed it actually says this: "They record only prescriptions given out by GPs - not the number of patients treated - so hospital treatment is missed in the analysis.", the latter part of which Rhi rightly drew attention to.

Indeed, the article also emphasises that the prescription records were anonymous. There are also a number of drugs which can be given for such illnesses. Do each of these drugs count as one prescription record?
Also, do the graphs show the amount of medication or the number of prescriptions? I think they show the amount of medication prescribed, but I'm not sure.

[Robbie]

Schizophrenia was often misdiagnosed though today there are specific guidelines so misdiagnosis (of that particular illness) happens less often.
It's possible for someone to have a psychotic episode which mimics schizophrenia but the person concerned is not schizophrenic.A poster above described that in someone they knew.

Lithium used to be the standard treatment for manic depressive patients, now called bi-polar disorder.Thsnkgully now less often prescribed because of the known side effects & the patient feeling their innate personality stifled.
Also more is known about manic depression.

The mental health servicse in the UK is woefully inadequate.

Not sure of the purpose of this thread. With respect to the person who started it & have no doubt he felt it was s subject worthy of discussion, which it is, the demographics are not always relevant.  GPs prescribing drugs for schizophrenia which I think must follow a psychiatric assessment are not necessarily reliable data. There must be patients who go undiagnosed or are, even now, misdignosed.

The stats in other countires may be of interest but may also be no more enlightening than the ones shown in this thread.

Yet it is a good thread for discussion.nTouches many.

[Jack Knave]

Schizophrenia was often misdiagnosed though today there are specific guidelines so misdiagnosis (of that particular illness) happens less often.
It's possible for someone to have a psychotic episode which mimics schizophrenia but the person concerned is not schizophrenic.A poster above described that in someone they knew.

You could argue that we are all schizophrenic but for many it is on at such a low level it is woven into the fabric of our lives. If society focuses heavily on an issue it tends to see it where before it didn't notice it and so it appears to be more prevalent. This means those who were seen a 'normal' are then slipped into the schizophrenic group, or whatever. I wonder if the OP is a product of this phenomena....?

[Sriram]

You could argue that we are all schizophrenic but for many it is on at such a low level it is woven into the fabric of our lives. If society focuses heavily on an issue it tends to see it where before it didn't notice it and so it appears to be more prevalent. This means those who were seen a 'normal' are then slipped into the schizophrenic group, or whatever. I wonder if the OP is a product of this phenomena....?

J.K.....Are you suggesting that I have slipped into the schizophrenia group?!!

And.... I don't think I need to explain myself as to why I start any thread (within the rules of the forum). Whether anyone wants to discuss it or not is their problem.

[Robbie]

Mental health issues are always worthy of discussion,no need to explain that. Why you picked out data from the UK is not clear unless because most posters are from here.
Mental health problems are universal.

[Rhiannon]

Yeah but they don't have this problem in India. Do they, Sriram?

[Sriram]

Yeah but they don't have this problem in India. Do they, Sriram?

My goodness!! You people are getting so insecure and touchy about problems in your country....its unbelievable!   

All you Britishers would rather discuss the problems in India than those in your own country!? Well...Well!  The colonial days are still here clearly!    LOL!

[Sriram]

Mental health issues are always worthy of discussion,no need to explain that. Why you picked out data from the UK is not clear unless because most posters are from here.
Mental health problems are universal.

Who else would be interested in England statistics except the English?!

[Robbie]

Thank you. I understand why you posted now & sure others do too. Yes you are right that we here are going to be more interested in Uk stats than anywhere else.
No offence taken and hope none given.

[Sassy]

My goodness!! You people are getting so insecure and touchy about problems in your country....its unbelievable!   

All you Britishers would rather discuss the problems in India than those in your own country!? Well...Well!  The colonial days are still here clearly!    LOL!

As someone with first hand experience of Schizophrenia and manic depression I can tell you it is not a 'country' or 'colonial' issue whether a comic jibe or not. 

But I do suggest sticking to topics you have personal knowledge about.

[john]

Domestic cats can cause schizophrenia.......

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cat-parasite-toxoplasma-gondii-linked-to-mental-illness-schizophrenia/

[Rhiannon]

That doesn't surprise me. They are psychopathic bastards. My one ambushes me every time I go through the lounge door.

[Sriram]

Domestic cats can cause schizophrenia.......

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cat-parasite-toxoplasma-gondii-linked-to-mental-illness-schizophrenia/

Further reinforces the issue of infections affecting the mind and causing schizophrenia, depression etc. I am surprised that some people here still resist the idea of infections causing or aggravating mental illness. It seems to be obvious.

[Sriram]

Thank you. I understand why you posted now & sure others do too. Yes you are right that we here are going to be more interested in Uk stats than anywhere else.
No offence taken and hope none given.

Fine....no problem. Thanks Robinson.

Every now and then I post here some issue related to UK or maybe the US, that gets highlighted in the news. There are no great discussions going on here otherwise  except the usual bible bashing on the Christian section.

But some people  get very sensitive every time some such UK related discussion is initiated...and there is a subtle (sometimes direct) suggestion about India and the situation here...which I think is irrelevant.

If anyone wants to discuss India and its issues, they are free to start a thread and I'll surely discuss.

Cheers.

[Robbie]

I don't know about that but I did wonder why you highlighted England; when you explained, it was obvious why & I felt a bit stupid missing the obvious.
Nothing wrong with talking about illnesses in England. We used to be famous for bronchitis.
When things such as abuse, crime, nasties are highlighted about any particular country or religion, e.g stereotyping, it's bound to make people from those defensive. It isn't sensitive to do that but not applicable to this thread.

Mental illness is a good subject to be discussed. It's touched many people and families. The treatments too have changed so much over the years. Not that long ago that patients were locked up in great big mental hospitals, lobotomised and subjected to courses of electroconvulsive therapy with no choice in the matter.
Treatment isn't wonderful now but it's better than that.

[Harrowby Hall]

Domestic cats can cause schizophrenia.......

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cat-parasite-toxoplasma-gondii-linked-to-mental-illness-schizophrenia/

No, parasites which domestic cats may carry "cause schizophrenia". The cats are as much victims as are humans that become infected.

[Udayana]

Fine....no problem. Thanks Robinson.

Every now and then I post here some issue related to UK or maybe the US, that gets highlighted in the news. There are no great discussions going on here otherwise  except the usual bible bashing on the Christian section.

But some people  get very sensitive every time some such UK related discussion is initiated...and there is a subtle (sometimes direct) suggestion about India and the situation here...which I think is irrelevant.

If anyone wants to discuss India and its issues, they are free to start a thread and I'll surely discuss.

Cheers.

Yes, but the statistics you posted were completely inadequate for understanding anything about  "Schizophrenia in England".

[Robbie]

I agree but she was merely copying an article for the purpose of discussion. One would hope the BBC was fairly reliable.
What you said about the inadequate figures for schizophrenia in England is part of the discussion.