Psychosocial Treatments for Early Psychosis

Abstract

People experiencing psychosis often have to deal with a number of problems. These problems may stem from certain symptoms. As explained in Chapter 2, these symptoms may include positive symptoms (such as hearing voices or having unusual beliefs), negative symptoms (such as being isolated, withdrawn, or slow), cognitive dysfunction (such as difficulties with attention, learning, or memory), and other types of symptoms. However, psychosocial difficulties (like problems with school, work, relationships, and recreation/leisure activities) may disrupt life as well, even though they are not necessarily thought of as symptoms. Unfortunately, these types of problems are very common for people dealing with a psychotic disorder. Treating the se difficulties in addition to the specific symptoms is necessary to begin to feel better and to live a full life. In fact, the recovery process focuses as much on resuming school, work, relationships, and leisure activities as it does on remission (see Chapter 11 on Promoting Recovery). Although medicines are extremely important in treating symptoms, especially positive symptoms (see Chapter 6 on Medicines Used to Treat Psychosis), another type of treatments, called psychosocial treatments, focus more on helping patients with these broader problems. Normal psychosocial development begins in childhood but continues throughout adolescence and early adulthood. Adolescence and early adulthood are extremely important times when most people develop social skills and build relationships. Late adolescence and early adulthood is typically a time of finishing high school, starting college, getting a first job, having a first romantic relationship, beginning to live more independently from parents, buying a car, and establishing career goals. Success in all of these domains of life requires both psychological skills and social skills. The term psychosocial brings together these two words. So, psychosocial development refers to the important developmental stage when psychological and social skills mature. Unfortunately, for people who develop a psychotic disorder, late adolescence and early adulthood is the period of time when a first episode of psychosis usually begins. Thus, psychosis that first happens in this time period often interrupts psychosocial development, leading to psychosocial problems. Psychosocial problems refer to difficulties at school, at work, in relationships, or in recreation and leisure activities.