Psychosis and socialising - investigating the connection

Psychosis symptoms are often preceded by a withdrawal from social relationships and a decline in social function. Researchers from Denmark set out to investigate this further in a study of 398 people. 11 of them had some symptoms of psychosis, 12 were defined as 'prodromal' - i.e. about to develop psychosis, 12 met the diagnostic criteria for psychosis and the remainder were an unaffected control group. The researchers used a questionnaire to measure people's interpersonal problems and found that there was an increase in them as their symptoms got worse. The research adds to other studies suggesting that addressing these problems in getting on with other people could be a useful way of helping people at risk of developing psychosis.

Mondrup, Lise and Rosenbaum, Bent - Interpersonal problems in the prodromal state of schizophrenia: an exploratory study Psychosis October 2010, 2(3), 238-247