Screening for schizophrenia in initial prodromal phase: Detecting the sub-threshold psychosis

Diagnosing schizophrenia in the initial prodromal phase.

BACKGROUND In schizophrenia research, early detection in the initial prodrome before first psychotic episodes is a major topic. Therefore, the prognostic accuracy of initial prodromal symptoms was examined prospectively. METHODS The study sample was composed of patients referred to outpatient departments of German psychiatric university departments, because of diagnostic problems, between 198...

Symptomatology of the initial prodromal phase in schizophrenia.

The initial prodromal symptoms in schizophrenia were studied in 100 DSM-diagnosed patients and 100 controls. The median number of symptoms in the patients and the controls was 8 (range 2-13) and 0 (range 0-5), respectively. Patients developed symptoms indicating social, occupational, and affective dysfunction, whereas the controls' symptoms included magical content and disturbance in mood. Ther...

Cognitive remediation in the prodromal phase of schizophrenia or in subjects at-risk for psychosis

Objectives: Cognitive impairment is a key feature of schizophrenia with relevant consequences on patients’ functioning. Several quantitative reviews and meta-analyses have established that cognitive remediation is effective in reducing cognitive deficits and in improving functional outcome both in chronic schizophrenia and in the early stages of the illness. Current literature underlines that s...

THE PRODROMAL PHASE OF WHAT? THE PRODROMAL PHASE OF WHAT? A Metapsychiatric Analysis of the Prodromal Phase of Schizophrenia

Internet Addiction, Hikikomori Syndrome, and the Prodromal Phase of Psychosis

Computers, video games, and technological devices are part of young people's everyday lives. Hikikomori is a Japanese word describing a condition that mainly affects adolescents or young adults who live isolated from the world, cloistered within their parents' homes, locked in their bedrooms for days, months, or even years on end, and refusing to communicate even with their family. These patien...