Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder with a profound impact on patients, their families, caregivers and society. The global prevalence of lifetime schizophrenia is 0.2–0.4% without significant differences between sex and ethnicity, nor between urban and rural environments.1 The health and economic burden of schizophrenia is significant, given the...

Schizophrenia is one of the most debilitating severe mental illnesses with significant impact,1 irrespective of culture or socioeconomic class.2 Over the decades, antipsychotic medication has been the mainstay of treatment for patients with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, about 25% of patients do not respond to first-line antipsychotic medication, with more than...

Schizophrenia is the most severe of all mental disorders and affects about 1% of the population. The main disturbances of schizophrenia comprise positive symptoms, negative symptoms and disorganisation. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on top to view the full article.

The management of mental health disorders within a nation requires a system of care extending from the primary health care setting to tertiary and specialist care settings. To that end, professional knowledge of the recognition, management and prevention of mental disorders is critical. This article is available only as a...

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder with a profound impact on patients, their caregivers and society. The Global Burden of Disease lists schizophrenia among the top 10 contributors to health burden and disability around the world. This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on “Download PDF” on...

Schizophrenia – a mind torn asunder – is a difficult illness to live with, both for the patient as well as for the caregiver; thus, it is not an uncommon sight to see the authorities bring such patients to our psychiatric practice, whether abandoned or simply lost. What was...

First-episode studies of schizophrenia have reported that the longer the duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), the poorer the response to antipsychotic medication and treatment outcome. The findings of these studies have led to the assertion that by reducing DUP, treatment outcome for schizophrenia and other related psychosis might be...

It is well known that serious and persistent mental illness can result in diminished ability to function effectively in many life domains, such as the activities of daily living, and the performance of social, cultural and occupational roles. The Global Burden of Disease lists schizophrenia among the top 10...

Major mental illnesses can be persistent and debilitating, significantly impairing patients’ social, occupational and daily functions. The Global Burden of Disease lists schizophrenia among the top 10 contributors to health burden and disability around the world.1 This article is available only as a PDF. Please click on "Download PDF" to...

In medicine, measures that save the most lives and improved the quality of life of millions have largely been public health measures that in most instances, had been preventive measures. The most obvious examples are the infectious diseases which were – to use the cliché – the scourge of...

Schizophrenia is a debilitating condition with a mean lifetime morbidity risk of approximately 1:100.1 The current diagnosis of schizophrenia is based primarily on DSM IV. Symptoms of schizophrenia have classically been divided into 2 groups: the positive and negative symptoms. The positive symptoms are symptoms added on to normal...

Despite the common experience of the world as mostly stable and meaningful, the human nervous system continuously engages with a vast array of ambiguous and constantly changing sensory signals. To organise coherent percepts from the fragmented and unstable sensory signals that constitute experience, and to allow for coordinated interaction...

Hallucinations are a hallmark symptom of schizophrenia and are commonly observed in other psychotic disorders. Auditory hallucinations (AH) are the most common subtype based on The International Pilot Study on Schizophrenia,1 but the occurrence of non-AH in psychotic patients has been less well characterised. Reported rates of visual...