Management of schizophrenia: Current research and development of new strategies

Schizofrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder associated with disruption in cognition, emotion, psychosocial and occupational functioning. the course of the illness can be chronic or recurrent and often characterized by residual symptoms and incomplete social recovery. To improve schizophrenia outcome, integrated and personalized treatment programs are increasingly regarded as the most promising approach to the treatment of persons with schizophrenia. evidence from studies evaluating the effcacy of frst- and second-generation antipsychotic drugs indicates that an early pharmacological intervention yields a more favorable treatment response and greater improvement of patients global functioning. adherence remains an important issue and studies using second generation long-acting injections are needed to clarify possible advantages of this treatment strategy. Pharmacological treatments so far proved to be ineffective for primary and persistent negative symptoms and cognitive impairment. To address these important unmet needs, several psychosocial interventions have been developed. To date, increasing evidence shows that psychosocial interventions for people with schizophrenia can improve cognition, treatment adherence and social functioning and reduce psychotic symptoms and relapse. Howewer, several aspects of these programs, such as methods to individualize treatment and guarantee duration and generalization of eventual improvements, remain controversial.