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

Yoga for schizophrenia: meta-analysis shows short-term quality of life improvements

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Caroline Tomes
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yoga

This blog entry is the second in a series which is examining the mental health benefits of yoga.  Last month I blogged about yoga for psychiatric disorders, and today I shall be looking specifically at the benefits for schizophrenia. The benefits of exercise and physical activity for schizophrenia are increasingly being recognised.  Regular exercise can [read the full story…]

Atypical antipsychotics don’t improve quality of life in treatment-resistant depression

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Helge Hasselmann
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Hand holding pill

SSRIs are usually considered first-line treatment against major depression and approximately 50% of patients achieve remission with the drug they try first (Steffens, Krishnan, & Helms, 1997). However, every eighth case proves to be treatment-resistant and does not respond to standard antidepressant treatment at all. As a last resort, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) effective in schizophreniform [read the full story…]

Old side effects and old drugs; old side effects and new drugs

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Clive Adams
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Pill

People using antipsychotic drugs like chlorpromazine and haloperidol get [anticholinergic] side effects such as blurred vision, dry mouth and constipation but the proportion of people experiencing these is not clear. Past surveys are very old indeed, small and not really proper surveys at all. Their results had been perpetuated for decades without verification. They were [read the full story…]

Treatment of excessive alcohol use in people with psychotic disorders: Non-intervention specific improvements

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Paul Christiansen
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Image of a person inside a wine bottle

The literature on the efficacy of psychological treatments for excessive drinking is vast, but investigations into effectiveness of these treatments in individuals with other clinical diagnoses are considerably more limited. A recent paper published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica reviewed the effectiveness of manual guided treatments for excessive alcohol consumption in individuals with a psychotic disorder. [read the full story…]

Yoga for psychiatric disorders: systematic review shows some benefit but more research needed

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Caroline Tomes
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Yoga

Here at Mental Elf HQ, several new pieces of research relating to yoga have come our way.  This blog is the first in a series examining the mental health effects of engaging in yoga. Yoga is a form of exercise (largely comprising physical postures and breathing) which originated in India over 5,000 years ago.  Many [read the full story…]

Cochrane review finds bupropion is the best treatment to help people with schizophrenia give up smoking

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Profile photo of Andre Tomlin
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Woman breaking cigarette

People with schizophrenia are 2-3 times more likely to smoke tobacco than the rest of the population, so helping them quit is a significant public health issue. The evidence for smoking cessation interventions in the general population is fairly well defined. We know quite a bit about what works and we have a range of [read the full story…]

German cohort study finds no support for superiority of atypical antipsychotics in schizophrenia

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Emma Cernis
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It is possible that those who were disengaging from interventions such as medication were less likely to take part in the study.

Schizophrenia according to the NICE guidelines, is a relatively common illness and in the majority of cases takes a chronic course, requiring continued management and careful attention.  In the treatment and management of schizophrenia, antipsychotic medications – like olanzapine, quetiapine or clozapine – are the first line intervention. Antipsychotics can be loosely divided into “first-generation” (“typical”) and [read the full story…]

New review confirms the strong association between criminal history and violence risk in psychosis

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Profile photo of Andre Tomlin
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Net curtains

What’s the relationship between violence and psychosis? It’s an emotive debate that’s been running for years. On the one hand we have the net curtain-twitching, tabloid-reading brigade who picture axe-wielding psychopaths as soon as they read the word schizophrenia. On the other we have patients, carers, mental health charities and many clinicians who claim that [read the full story…]

New report about supporting people with schizophrenia back into the labour market

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Profile photo of Andre Tomlin
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Successful interview

Back in November 2012, the Schizophrenia Commission reported that people with schizophrenia are being badly let down by the health and social care system and by the employment market. The final report of the commission (I blogged about it here) concluded that people with schizophrenia face a lifespan 15-20 years shorter than the general population and [read the full story…]

People with schizophrenia are significantly more likely to die from heart disease and cancer

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Profile photo of Andre Tomlin
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Unequal measures

Since starting this blog two years ago, I have written about a number of studies that highlight the health inequalities faced by people with severe mental illness. The evidence keeps piling up and it’s really quite shocking that we are not doing more to diagnose and treat physical health problems in people with conditions such [read the full story…]