Nonmedical Interventions for Schizophrenia: A Review of Diet, Exercise, and Social Roles

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a major mental illness with a disease course that is influenced by lifestyle. The risk-benefit ratio for alternative interventions is more favorable than for antipsychotics in long-term treatment. Dietary interventions may target autoimmune features, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, abnormal lipid metabolism, gluten sensitivity, or others. Examples of interventions involving diet, physical activity, or physical processes or social interventions including talk therapy exist in the literature. Notwithstanding, the general utility of these types of interventions remains inconclusive, awaiting long-term randomized trials. A perspective that separates the cause of the disease from its symptoms may be helpful in treatment planning and is warranted to distinguish between short-term and long-term recovery goals.