Treating Schizophrenia - Comparing Behavioural and Psychoactive Therapies

Schizophrenia is a severe mental health disorder characterised by psychosis and the inability to recognise reality. Positive symptoms of the disorder are those which happen in addition to everyday experiences, including hallucinations and delusions, whereas negative symptoms are those that take away from such experiences, such as avolition and speech poverty. In this podcast, I describe the five main therapeutic techniques employed in patients with Schizophrenia; Drug therapy, Cognitive behaviour therapy, Family therapy, Token economies and the Interactionist approach. These methods of treatment are compared in terms of overall effectiveness in reducing symptoms, and their ability to ultimately prevent relapse. (With thanks to our sponsor 'Curriculum Press' for providing content for this podcast)