Influence of individual psychological support on the severity of psychopathological symptoms in patients with paranoid schizophrenia

Bogumiła Witkowska1: 1Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland. Correspondence email: [email protected] Summary Aim. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychological therapeutic interactions and the severity of psychopathological symptoms in patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia during their hospitalisation. Sample and method. The study involved 60 patients hospitalised for paranoid schizophrenia. They were divided into two groups of 30. The first group consisted of patients actively using psychological assistance and the second group of patients not benefiting from such aid. The PANSS and the author’s own questionnaire were used to conduct the assessment. In the survey, patients were asked to determine the frequency and quality of contact with a psychologist. Results. The results show that at the beginning of hospitalisation, patients in both groups did not differ significantly from one another in terms of the severity of psychopathological symptoms measured with PANSS. The group actively using psychological support during hospitalisation received significantly lower scores in general PANSS. Also, all subscales of PANSS indicate a significant decrease in scores. This means that in patients of the first group there was a significant weakening of positive, negative and general symptoms as compared with the second group. Discussion. The results confirm the validity of the inclusion of psychotherapy in treatment of people with paranoid schizophrenia. Conclusions. Patients in the group actively using psychological support during hospitalisation achieved significantly greater reduction in the severity of psychopathological symptoms compared with patients in the group not participating in therapy. Persons in contact with therapists became significantly healthier (symptomatic improvement) than those in the second group.