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Schizophrenia – Falling Incidence and Better Outcome?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Glynn Harrison  and
Peter Mason
Glynn Harrison*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Nottingham NG7 2UH
Peter Mason
Affiliation:
Schizophrenia Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Nottingham NG7 2UH
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

It has been suggested that schizophrenia is a disappearing disease. The evidence for this assertion is reviewed, and also for a parallel theory advanced in recent years that the disorder may be undergoing a benign metamorphosis in its course and outcome. It is concluded that the evidence is presently unconvincing given the methodological problems inherent in most follow-up studies; changes have taken place in clinicians' assumptions, in treatments, and in the quality of follow-up studies, rather than in the disorder itself. Nevertheless, possible time trends in the incidence and outcome of schizophrenia call for further scientific investigation.

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The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 4 , October 1993 , pp. 535 - 541
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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