Drug therapy and psychotherapy of schizophrenia

Early Comparative Studies Psychotherapy vs. Drug Treatment 

According to an often-cited review of studies provided by May (1968), antipsychotics represent considerably more effective treatment for acute forms of schizophrenia than do various types of psychotherapy  

May s survey related almost exclusively to studies with hospitalized patients who, as experience shows, have quite variable outcomes some of these patients will stay in the protected environment of a clinic for a long time or even permanently, whereas the majority of schizophrenics can be discharged and perhaps will never return to the hospital again. 

One aspect of great importance in the long term, namely a reduction in the relapse risk after the remission of an acute schizophrenic episode, forms the subject of two comprehensive studies involving schizophrenic patients who had been discharged from hospital (Hogartv and Goldberg, 1973 May et al, 1976) see Boxes 8.2 and 8.3. 

In more recent studies, the therapeutic efforts have probably emphasized more than before the individual requirements of the patients and their social relationships. As an example of a project directed to individual requirements and thus uncontrolled in various respects, a therapeutic study published by Alanen et al. (1986) in 100 schizophrenic patients in Turku, Finland, can be cited. Three-quarters of these cases were hospitalized initially and almost all received antipsychotics. at least at the start of treatment, mostly in rather low doses. They were subsequently incorporated into various psychotherapeutic and sociotherapeutic programs that were greatly individualized and adapted to the resources available in the participating institutions intensive individual 

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