[Pre-psychotic states--contemporary diagnostic and therapeutic issues. Part I. Clinical identification of pre-psychotic states]

Abstract

Early intervention in psychotic disorders, particularly schizophrenia, has been increasingly recognized as important by clinicians. The benefits of early intervention in schizophrenia to patients include prevention of neurobiological changes, minimization of secondary morbidity and prevention of relapse. Other benefits of prepsychotic intervention include the capacity to research the onset phase of psychosis. We would like to support in our paper a statement by Maeres: What is needed is not diagnosing the early stages of schizophrenia but the diagnosis of prepsychotic schizophrenia. We are interested in recognizing the schizophrenia 'prodrome' prospectively using to concepts: subjects 'at risk mental state' (ARMS) and subjects from 'ultra high risk' (UHR) group. For clinical reasons that involves both some clinical features of pre-psychotic states (attenuated psychotic symptoms) and some "trait factors", i.e. schizotypal personality or family predisposition factors. Recent data revealed that some characteristics of pre-psychotic states had stronger predictive value: longer symptoms duration, lower level of GAF (< 40), and presence of attenuated psychotic symptoms. The possibility of providing intervention prior to the onset of psychosis has risen from recent interest in early intervention in these pre-psychotic states.