Schizophrenia: The Revolution in Treatment Part 1

Course overview

More than two million people in the United States have a diagnosis of schizophrenia. For the last half century until even now, the treatment for most has consisted mainly of strong doses of antipsychotic drugs that blunt hallucinations and delusions but come with significant and unpleasant side effects. Now, there has been remarkable research leading to what will be a revolution in understanding and treating this debilitating mental illness. In this program we interview first, a neuropsychologist who reports on new neurodevelopmental models of etiology, showing that many risk factors can give rise to schizophrenia and to the psychosis-spectrum disorders. Next, moving to treatment, the program director of one of the clinical sites which was used to study how psychosis might be treated in its early stage. Following that we interview a psychiatrist who applies self-psychology in the very close and connected treatment of early episode patients. Finally, we hear from the mother of a schizophrenic child who tells us very directly what the families of these patients need -- and don't receive.