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Recovery is the guiding principle of care provided at Te Whetu Tawera (TWT). Recovery
means living well in the presence – or absence – of mental illness and the many losses
that can come in the wake of mental illness. Recovery is supported at TWT by: working
with our service users to stay in touch with their community, minimising coercion,
promoting choices, and most importantly by expecting recovery to happen.
We offer a range of programmes and activities that promote recovery through exercise,
spiritual wellbeing, art, music, therapeutic relaxation, accurate information about
medications and developing specific skills to help one live well in the presence of a
mental illness. These skills include Distress Tolerance, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy,
managing auditory hallucinations (hearing voices).
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects about 1% of the general
population. It is a complex illness characterised by ‘psychosis’, a word used to describe
disorder of thoughts (e.g. delusions - false beliefs held in spite of evidence that they are
not real), perceptions (e.g. hallucinations - seeing, hearing or feeling things which are not
there), disorganised speech and grossly disorganised behaviour, which are not
experienced by others and which are not seen as abnormal by the sufferer. These four
symptoms are often referred to as the ‘Positive Symptoms’ of schizophrenia because they
are the result of the disease process.
The fifth group of symptoms: withdrawal, decreased ability to feel pleasure, lack of
energy, and flat affect, are referred to as ‘Negative Symptoms’ because they represent a
loss of normal functions.
Schizophrenia affects different people in different ways. Some people may experience
only a few short episodes and then fully recover. For others it lasts throughout their lives
and needs to be treated like any other physical illness such as asthma or diabetes.
It is important that schizophrenia is treated as soon as it is diagnosed by a psychiatrist to
prevent long-term disability and loss of function.
Treatment
Schizophrenia may be treated using a number of different approaches:
• Hospitalisation may be required for those who are very unwell and are posing a
risk to themselves or to others.
Depression
Depression is a mood disorder. Emotional states like sadness, ‘feeling blue’ or tearfulness
are part of normal human experience. Clinical depression is called Major Depression and
is characterised by the presence for at least two weeks of symptoms such as depressed
mood, diminished interest and pleasure in most activities, change in appetite and weight
(these can be increased or decreased) sleep disturbance, fatigue, bodily symptoms
(headache, backache etc) poor concentration, feelings of anxiousness, worthlessness,
hopelessness, guilt, and suicidal ideation.
Depression is a common disorder and about 10-20 % of the population in New Zealand
will suffer from depression during their lifetime.
Treatment
Once depression has been diagnosed by your GP/Psychiatrist, it can be effectively treated
by:
• Antidepressant medication
Anxiety Disorders
We all feel some anxiety at some time or other. Anxiety may serve as an alerting signal,
warning us of external /internal threats and consequently acting as a prompt to take
appropriate action.
When anxiety is very severe and present even when there is no threat of any kind, then it
interferes with our functioning and can become an illness. In this circumstance, anxiety
becomes a disorder characterised by an unpleasant emotion with feelings of fear, threat
and impending danger and can be associated with numerous bodily symptoms like
breathlessness, trembling, tightness in throat, dry mouth, racing heart and
nausea/vomiting.
There are varieties of anxiety disorders like panic attacks, phobias (unhealthy fear of
something), agoraphobia (fear of open spaces), social anxiety, post-traumatic disorder
and obsessive compulsive disorder. Anxiety can often be associated with a depressive
episode.
Anxiety disorders are very common and if unrecognised and untreated, can cause severe
disability.
Treatment
• Medication.
So what is the connection between the meaning of Te Wheta Tawera and the service we
deliver?
• all interactions and interventions are about supporting service users and families
on their journey to sustainable wellness