In recent years, early intervention services have attempted to identify people with a first episode of psychosis as early as possible, reducing the duration of untreated psychosis and changing the timing of delivery of interventions. The logic of early intervention is based partly on accessing people in a more treatment responsive stage of illness in which psychosocial damage is less extensive,...

BACKGROUND Structural brain differences including decreased gray matter and increased cerebrospinal fluid volumes have been observed in the brains of chronically ill patients with schizophrenia. We hypothesized that deficits in gray matter volume would be present in patients presenting with a first episode of nonaffective psychosis. METHODS We used magnetic resonance imaging to compare the br...

BACKGROUND Substance misuse is a common comorbid problem in people presenting with first-episode psychosis and is associated with a poor short-term outcome. AIMS The aim of this study is to examine differences in baseline characteristics and 1-year outcome between individuals with first-episode psychosis who have never misused substances, those who stop misusing substances after initial prese...

OBJECTIVE Studies of patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis have demonstrated that they typically remain undiagnosed and untreated for 1-2 years. It has been postulated that prolonged untreated psychosis may have serious effects: poor response to neuroleptic medications, poor clinical outcomes, and direct neurotoxicity. This study investigated the relationships between duration ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Research suggests that tobacco smokers may develop psychosis at an earlier age than non-smokers, with effects on psychotic symptoms. We aimed to test the difference in age of onset of psychosis between smokers and non-smokers. DESIGN Self-report data were collected from smokers and non-smokers in a population of first-episode psychosis patients. SETTING Out-patient first...

While it has been documented that persons with prolonged schizophrenia have deficits in metacognition and social cognition, it is less clear whether these difficulties are already present during a first episode. To explore this issue we assessed and compared metacognition using the Metacognition Assessment Scale-Abbreviated (MAS-A) and social cognition using the Eyes, Hinting and Bell-Lysaker E...

OBJECTIVE There is uncertainty regarding the onset timing of the cognitive deficiencies of schizophrenia. We investigated whether conversion to psychosis and/or olanzapine altered the neuropsychological course of subjects within the first-ever double blind medication study of the putative schizophrenia first episode prodrome. METHOD Sixty participants in a double blind trial of olanzapine as ...

IMPORTANCE Increased glutamate levels in the right associative striatum have been described in patients during a first episode of psychosis. Whether this increase would persist after effective antipsychotic treatment is unknown. OBJECTIVES To compare the glutamate levels in antipsychotic-naive patients with first-episode psychosis in the right associative striatum and right cerebellar cortex ...

BACKGROUND Young people with first episode psychosis are at an increased risk for a range of poor health outcomes. In contrast to the growing body of evidence that suggests that exercise therapy may benefit the physical and mental health of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, there are no studies to date that have sought to extend the use of exercise therapy among patients with first episode p...

There are few evaluated psychological interventions or theoretical approaches which are specifically aimed at reducing problems related to adjustment and adaptation following a first episode of psychosis. The present study tests the efficacy of a form of CBT (Cognitive Recovery Intervention; CRI) in reducing trauma, depression and low self esteem following a first episode of psychosis, in a sin...