More than two million people in the United States have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and the treatment for most of them mainly involves strong doses of antipsychotic drugs that blunt hallucinations and delusions but can come with unbearable side effects, like severe weight gain or debilitating tremors.
Now, results of a landmark government-funded study call that approach into question. The findings, from by far the most rigorous trial to date conducted in the United States, concluded that schizophrenia patients who received a program intended to keep dosages of antipsychotic medication as low as possible and emphasize one-on-one talk therapy and family support made greater strides in recovery over the first two years of treatment than patients who got the usual drug-focused care.In a series of experimental studies we found that most people’s subjective experience of intrusive thought increased after they experienced stress-inducing perceptions. Those experiments consisted of showing different types of subjects different types of films in laboratory settings with varied demand characteristics.
In field studies, my colleagues and I also focused on a variety of persons who had recently undergone major life events. This led to the development of questionnaires that were specific to the subjective experiences that may increase after stress, such as found in the intrusion and avoidance measures on the Impact of Event Scale and in clinicians’ equivalent rating scales, such as the Stress Response Rating Scale(Horowitz, Wilner & Alvarez, 1979; Weiss, Horowitz & Wilner, 1984).לקריאת המאמר המלא
In field studies, my colleagues and I also focused on a variety of persons who had recently undergone major life events. This led to the development of questionnaires that were specific to the subjective experiences that may increase after stress, such as found in the intrusion and avoidance measures on the Impact of Event Scale and in clinicians’ equivalent rating scales, such as the Stress Response Rating Scale(Horowitz, Wilner & Alvarez, 1979; Weiss, Horowitz & Wilner, 1984).לקריאת המאמר המלא