Tuesday, June 03, 2008

CBT for psychosis

Psychosis can recur throughout people's lives leading to long-term disability. Reviews of studies have shown that combining drugs with psychological interventions - specifically cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and family intervention - improves clinical outcome. Family interventions have been shown to produce a reduction of around 20% in relapses but the evidence for CBT is less clear. A study of 301 patients and 84 carers found that both CBT and family intervention had no effect on rates of remission and relapse or on days in hospital at 12 or 24 months. CBT showed a beneficial effect on depression after two years whereas there were no effects for family intervention. In people with carers CBT significantly improved delusional distress and social functioning.

Garety, Philippa A. ... [et al] - Cognitive-behavioural therapy and family intervention for relapse prevention and symptom reduction in psychosis: randomised and controlled trial British Journal of Psychiatry June 2008, 192(6), 412-423

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