APA Guideline for Treating Adults With Schizophrenia
APA Guideline for Treating Adults With Schizophrenia
In April, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) released a comprehensive treatment guideline for treating adults who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Titled "The Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia," it highlights the latest research, stresses the value of such new medications as sertindole, quetiapine, and olanzapine as well as clozapine and risperidone in treating the disorder, and recommends a range of psychiatric and rehabilitation approaches. More than 91 researchers and clinicians and more than 15 professional and consumer associations reviewed and commented on the Guideline, which was developed under the guidance of the APA Work Group on Schizophrenia. The Work Group, chaired by Marvin I. Herz, MD, included Robert P. Liberman, MD; Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD; Stephen R. Marder, MD; Thomas H. McGlashan, MD; Richard J. Wyatt, MD; and Philip Wand, MD, consultant.
Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling mental illness that affects men and women in equal numbers. The disease is characterized by 3 types of symptoms: positive symptoms, which include delusions and hallucinations; disorganized thought and speech; and negative or deficit symptoms, which include reduced thought and speech, flattened affect, and decreased initiation of goal-directed behavior. The alterations in psychological processes--perception (hallucinations), reality (delusions), thought, feeling (flat or inappropriate affect), behavior, attention, concentration, motivation, and judgment--lead to such functional impairments as learning problems, self-care deficits, and impaired working and interpersonal relationships. (See Table I, Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia.)
The peak age of onset of schizophrenia in men is in the early 20s; in women, the illness peaks in the late 20s to early 30s. Risk factors include having a first-degree relative or more than 1 relative with schizophrenia, being unmarried, living in an urban center in an industrialized nation, having had a fetal history of in utero problems (eg, Rh incompatibility), being born in winter, being in a lower socioeconomic class, and having recently experienced a stressful life event.
In April, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) released a comprehensive treatment guideline for treating adults who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Titled "The Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Schizophrenia," it highlights the latest research, stresses the value of such new medications as sertindole, quetiapine, and olanzapine as well as clozapine and risperidone in treating the disorder, and recommends a range of psychiatric and rehabilitation approaches. More than 91 researchers and clinicians and more than 15 professional and consumer associations reviewed and commented on the Guideline, which was developed under the guidance of the APA Work Group on Schizophrenia. The Work Group, chaired by Marvin I. Herz, MD, included Robert P. Liberman, MD; Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD; Stephen R. Marder, MD; Thomas H. McGlashan, MD; Richard J. Wyatt, MD; and Philip Wand, MD, consultant.
Schizophrenia is a chronic and disabling mental illness that affects men and women in equal numbers. The disease is characterized by 3 types of symptoms: positive symptoms, which include delusions and hallucinations; disorganized thought and speech; and negative or deficit symptoms, which include reduced thought and speech, flattened affect, and decreased initiation of goal-directed behavior. The alterations in psychological processes--perception (hallucinations), reality (delusions), thought, feeling (flat or inappropriate affect), behavior, attention, concentration, motivation, and judgment--lead to such functional impairments as learning problems, self-care deficits, and impaired working and interpersonal relationships. (See Table I, Diagnostic Criteria for Schizophrenia.)
The peak age of onset of schizophrenia in men is in the early 20s; in women, the illness peaks in the late 20s to early 30s. Risk factors include having a first-degree relative or more than 1 relative with schizophrenia, being unmarried, living in an urban center in an industrialized nation, having had a fetal history of in utero problems (eg, Rh incompatibility), being born in winter, being in a lower socioeconomic class, and having recently experienced a stressful life event.
Source...