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

Lifestyle interventions for severe mental illness: time to deliver

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We have the evidence that lifestyle interventions work. Now what? The third Lancet Psychiatry Commission focuses on the messy business of implementation.

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Can we predict and prevent weight gain in early psychosis?

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New research suggests that weight gained in the first 12 weeks of antipsychotic treatment is the biggest driver of long-term obesity in psychosis.

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Stop, reduce or stay on antipsychotics after first-episode psychosis?

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Once symptoms stabilise after a first episode of psychosis, should medication continue? A four-year RCT explores the risks and rewards of dose reduction.

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Shared genetic patterns found across 14 psychiatric disorders

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Psychiatric disorders share genetic variants that cluster into five main factors. Understanding shared biology could improve treatment, but more diverse genetic data urgently needed.

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Measuring paranoid beliefs: can adaptive testing support routine clinical care?

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Simulation study suggests computerised adaptive testing could reduce paranoia assessment from 10 items to 4 while maintaining accuracy. Real-world implementation and clinical testing needed.

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Resistance training in psychiatric rehab settings is feasible and safe for psychosis

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Feasibility trial found resistance training was safe and acceptable for people with psychosis in psychiatric rehabilitation wards, challenging assumptions about patient capabilities and safety.

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Do antipsychotics slow down thinking? New evidence from healthy volunteers

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New research reveals how antipsychotic medications affect working memory speed in healthy adults, providing crucial insights into the cognitive side effects of these widely prescribed drugs.

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Cardiovascular screening for people with severe mental illness: still missing the full picture

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Only 35% of people with severe mental illness received all six cardiovascular risk factor checks within one month in this UK primary care study. Financial incentives temporarily increased comprehensive screening but effects were uneven and short-lived. Young men of non-White ethnicity were most likely to miss screening, highlighting persistent inequalities.

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Consensus reached on the meaning of relapse in schizophrenia, or is it?

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Variability in relapse definition make comparison across studies harder

A systematic review and Delphi study creates a new consensus statement on the meaning and measurement of relapse in schizophrenia, but until voices of lived experience are more fully engaged, there remains some way to go in reaching a valid consensus.

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How much does family history increase your mental health risk? New study provides answers

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This Danish study of over 3 million people found that having a first-degree relative with depression increased risk 2.35-times, resulting in 15% lifetime risk (compared to 7.8% in the general population). However, 60% of depression cases occurred in people with no affected close relatives, highlighting that family history is only part of the story.

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