Some of the evidence has been conflicting, however a consensus now seems to have emerged which shows that there are a number of factors that will affect the outcome in a person’s journey through this complex illness. Is there any way of predicting outcomes in schizophrenia?Ī large number of studies have been carried out over the years to try to find ways of predicting which types of patients with schizophrenia will do well and which will not. And maybe we could also ask whether our benefits system in the UK provides sufficient incentives and support to those recovering from schizophrenia to enter the difficult process of searching for a job.Įxperience in other countries has shown that it is possible for many more people with schizophrenia to recover to a high level of social functioning. Perhaps there is also a type of stigma in the people living with schizophrenia themselves who, having had their self esteem destroyed by their illness, have little faith in their own capabilities and who see work as being permanently beyond their grasp. But perhaps that stigma has other dimensions: perhaps there is also the stigma shown by those in the caring professions who see permanent unemployment as being the natural state for people with schizophrenia and have little ambition for the people in their care. Why is this so? Well some would blame the stigma that people with schizophrenia face from employers when looking for work. It is a sad fact that today in the UK, whereas 25% of people with schizophrenia will recover completely from their first episode, only about 13% of people with a diagnosis are in any kind of work and for most people with schizophrenia a career job or owning their own home remains far beyond their reach. Whilst these rules are useful in indicating the chances of recovery in terms of clinical outcomes, that is the presence of symptoms, they tell us nothing about how successful people with schizophrenia are in re-joining mainstream society, that is the social outcomes. 3ĭisparity between clinical and social outcomes in schizophreniaĮven though most people with schizophrenia will recover to some extent, in the UK today very few people with a diagnosis are in any kind of work. Of these, 15% will lead a chronic course with little or no improvement and involving repeated hospital stays over a prolonged part of their adult life, whilst the final 10% will die usually by their own hand. This leaves the final 25% for whom the outlook is not so good. A further 25% will be substantially improved with treatment and will go on to recover almost all of their former level of functioning with very few relapse events.Īnother 25% of people will improve somewhat but will still need considerable levels of support to function normally and to get them through relapse events which will occur at several intervals in their life. This rule suggests that about 25% of people with schizophrenia will recover completely from the first episode and go on to have no further problems in their life. With improvements in treatment methods and newer medications, this model was seen to be unrepresentative and doctors now tend to use another rule of thumb which they call the “rule of quarters” and which suggests the outcomes after 10 years from diagnosis. According to this rule of thumb about one third of those diagnosed with schizophrenia would recovery completely, a further third would be improved over time, leaving the remaining third who would not show any improvement. 2įor much of the 20th century psychiatrists thought of recovery rates from schizophrenia in terms of what was known as the “rule of thirds”. 1 Many people who have suffered an episode of schizophrenia or even multiple episodes go on to recover a very high level of functioning and often to be able to re-join mainstream society. We now know that this is not the case and that the receipt of a diagnosis of schizophrenia is not a life sentence to an existence of low achievement. Recent Developments in the Treatment of Schizophreniaĭr Emil Kraepelin who first described schizophrenia in 1896.
Religious and Spiritual Delusions in Schizophrenia.
What can be done about depression in schizophrenia.Information for doctors and health workers.
0 kommentar(er)
