A new study demonstrates that far more people are able to fully recover from psychosis than typically thought—and that many can do so without antipsychotic drugs.
The researchers followed 28 people for 10 years after their first episode of psychosis, documenting the road to recovery along the way.
They used a strict definition of recovery, which involved remission of psychosis symptoms for at least two years, as well as a return to functioning as indicated by employment, socializing, and other metrics. Even with this strict definition, by the 10-year mark, 14 people (50%) met the criteria for full recovery. Twenty people (71%) met the looser definition of “remission” at the 10-year mark. And half of those who recovered (7 people) had stopped taking antipsychotics.
Much of this recovery began early, too, with 55% meeting a “clinical recovery” benchmark by year 4.
“Consistent with prior research, our findings indicate that a significant number of individuals … experience symptom remission within the initial year of illness. For some, this remission leads to sustained clinical recovery, even without the use of continued antipsychotic medication,” the researchers write.
The study was conducted by Anne-Kari Torgalsbøen, Christine Mohn, Frank Larøi, and Nikolai Czajkowski at the University of Oslo, Norway. It was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.
This finding is consistent with previous research showing that antipsychotic drugs worsen, rather than improve, outcomes in first-episode psychosis. Other studies have found similar poor outcomes for those “at risk” of psychosis who take the drugs. Ultimately, those who use the drugs long-term have worse outcomes, even after accounting for baseline severity and other factors. Indeed, those who reduce or discontinue the drugs are more than twice as likely to recover than those who continue using antipsychotics. Those who take the most drugs for the longest period have the worst outcomes, including higher mortality rates.
You've landed on a MIA journalism article that is funded by MIA supporters. To read the full article, sign up as a MIA Supporter. All active donors get full access to all MIA content, and free passes to all Mad in America events.
Current MIA supporters can log in below.(If you can't afford to support MIA in this way, email us at [email protected] and we will provide you with access to all donor-supported content.)
