schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a long-term mental health condition that causes a range of different psychological symptoms. These include: hallucinations (hearing or seeing things that do not exist), delusions (unusual beliefs that are not based on reality and often contradict the evidence), muddled thoughts based on the hallucinations or delusions, and changes in behaviour. Doctors describe schizophrenia as a psychotic illness. This means that sometimes a person may not be able to distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality.

Our schizophrenia Blogs

Just how good are antipsychotics at preventing relapse? Bridging the efficacy-effectiveness gap

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Samei Huda summarises a new network meta-analysis in the Lancet Psychiatry on the efficacy and effectiveness of antipsychotics for schizophrenia in research settings, such as randomised controlled trials, versus real-world and clinical settings.

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Brain-body health please: new research supports integrated physical and mental health care

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Athina Aruldass finds that management of serious neuropsychiatric disorders should acknowledge the importance of poor physical health and target restoration of both brain and body function.

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Early intervention for psychosis: better outcomes in the short term?

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Emanuele Osimo blogs about the 20-year follow up of the OPUS trial, which tested early intervention services for people with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorder.

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‘Hearing Voices’ and self-help groups: hope and support for people who hear voices

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Lorna Collins reflects on a systematic review exploring the benefits of Hearing Voices and other self-help groups for people with auditory hallucinations.

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Predicting treatment-resistant psychosis using routine clinical measures

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Lorna Staines summarises a recent study on predicting treatment-resistant psychosis, which suggests that future risk prediction efforts should seek to consider routinely collected data.

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Genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with changes in heart structure and function

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Nadine Parker and Ole Andreassen summarise a recent UK population-based cohort study, which looks at the impact of polygenic risk for schizophrenia on cardiac structure and function in over 32,000 people.

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South Asia’s silent struggle: people with severe mental illness suffer high burden of physical illness

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An international group of experts from the University of York CADA Implementation Science Summer School summarise a recent study on the prevalence of physical health conditions and health risk behaviours in people with severe mental illness in South Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan).

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Psychosis and loneliness: overcoming the practical, social and emotional barriers to better relationships

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Hosana Tagomori and Dafni Katsampa review a qualitative study exploring the experience of loneliness among people diagnosed with psychosis.

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Blood-based inflammatory markers in acute vs chronic schizophrenia

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Éimear Foley summarises a recent meta-analysis, which looks at alteration patterns of peripheral concentrations of cytokines and associated inflammatory proteins in acute and chronic stages of schizophrenia.

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People with severe mental health difficulties are more likely to have poor dental health and dental disorders

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Masuma Pervin Mishu summarises an umbrella review on the prevalence of dental disorders among people with severe mental illness.

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