Progressive Phase fo Schizophrenia
For many people with schizophrenia, the illness progressively worsens over time. For example:
- Relapses may become more severe over time.
- The time between relapses often decreases with each new psychotic episode.
- Baseline functioning often deteriorates during the recovery time between relapses.
In addition, research suggests that changes in the brain may occur as patients enter the chronic phase of schizophrenia. For example, one study found that the duration of psychotic symptoms in the person’s first episode prior to receiving pharmacologic treatment predicted his or her time to treatment response and relapse, as well as the long-term outcome of therapy.
In general, the longer a patient experienced psychosis without initial treatment, the worse the treatment response and outcome. Some researchers now postulate that psychosis is an active disease process that if not treated — could lead to treatment resistance. Thus, the early use of antipsychotics could help prevent relapses and subsequent deterioration.
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