Question

How do schizophrenia types and severity of symptoms affect prognosis?

Answer 1

• In general, the earlier someone with schizophrenia is diagnosed and stabilized on an appropriate treatment regime, the better their chance of recovery.
• If no one in the immediate biological family of first degree relatives has schizophrenia or a related condition, that is a good sign. Multiple relatives who share schizophrenia outcomes is a bad sign.
• Other good signs include good social and professional adjustment prior to the onset of symptoms, and awareness and insight of symptoms as signs of a problem (rather than just reaction to symptoms without insight); patients demonstrating both of these signs may sometimes recover completely.
• Chances for recovery are improved if the disease comes on suddenly, as opposed to when it comes on slowly. The older one is at the onset of schizophrenia, the better. If schizophrenia is treated quickly and consistently with good response to treatment, the prognosis is usually very good.
• A short amount of time that people suffer with severe symptoms and a lack of symptoms reported during periods between severe psychotic episodes are also good indicators of recovery potential.
• Several factors have been associated with a better overall prognosis: rapid (vs. insidious) onset of symptoms, older age of first episode, predominantly positive (rather than negative) symptoms, presence of mood symptoms, and good pre-illness functioning.
• The strengths and internal resources of the individual concerned, such as determination or psychological resilience, have also been associated with better prognosis.
• Catatonic schizophernia has the best prognosis,whereas in paranoid schizophrenia complete recovery does not usually occur but  individuals with this subtype may tend to have a good prognosis as long as they take time to properly treat their symptoms.
  
• Disorganzied type-They may have a disheveled appearance, behave oddly, and speak in such a disorganized manner that it makes almost no sense to the listener. They may jump topics mid-sentence or every other sentence leading to completely nonsensical speech.
• This particular subtype tends to have an early onset between the ages of 15 and 25 and is often referred to as “hebephrenia” which means “during adolescence.” Unfortunately the prognosis for this subtype is pretty poor compared to some of the others.
• With the residual subtype, some people feel completely recovered from their condition once it is properly treated. In order to make sure that the symptoms stay in remission, it is important to make sure that the individual continues treatment, therapy, and makes healthy lifestyle choices. Most people experience a relapse of symptoms every once in awhile. This subtype is characterized by a “waxing” and “waning” of schizophrenic symptoms.
• During the “waxing” phase, symptoms increase in intensity, and during the “waning” phase, they decrease and may become non-existent. Most people will have some hospitalizations with this subtype, but their overall prognosis with this subtype is pretty good. Individuals with the residual type can be productive members of society while their illness is in the “waning” phase.