• Treating Schizophrenia with Medications
• Treating Schizophrenia with Complementary Therapies
• New Psychiatric Treatment Guidelines for Schizophrenia (Canada, Nov. 2005)
• Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Schizophrenia Treatments
  • What to expect after going on an antipsychotic medication
  • What if I can't afford my prescriptions?
  • Working with a psychiatrist
  • Hospitalization - when and why it might be necessary
  • What to do when a loved one refuses treatment

American Psychiatric Association's Guideline For The Treatment Of Patients With Schizophrenia states: "antipsychotic medications are indicated for nearly all acute psychotic episodes in patients with schizophrenia." In addition to antipsychotic medications, some patients also take anti-depressants or mood-stabilizers to help control related symptoms.

Medications work successfully to control symptoms in the majority of patients (approximately 70% of patients will improve to some degree, according to research - but we've also seen research that suggests the chances of any one drug working for a person may be only 50% or so. People frequently have to try more than one drug to partially or completely control the positive symptoms - hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, racing thoughts, etc). They are not as effective in controlling negative symptoms, and may cause side-effects of their own. However, second-generation antipsychotics (also called atypical antipsychotics) have shown more success with some patient population in treating negative and cognitive symptoms. There are also a wealth of new, and hopefully better, schizophrenia medications currently in development.

See our Medications area for information on commonly prescribed antipsychotic medications - how they work, how effective they are, what side-effects they cause - as well as additional info on research studies and medications in clinical trials.

Although an important element, medication is far from the only treatment used for schizophrenia patients. Many patients and their families choose supplemental therapies (these can include psychosocial or cognitive therapy, rehabilitation day programs, peer support groups, nutritional supplements, etc) to use in conjunction with their medications. In certain severe cases, some patients also respond to electroconvulsive therapy (which has been shown to be safe and effective) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). These additional treatments can be essential for a full recovery - although medications are the best tool right now for controlling symptoms (particularly positive ones), other treatments and therapies are what can help a person manage depression, social interactions, school, work, and the components for a full life. The most promising complementary treatments to try in conjunction with medication that we have seen thus far, based on scientific literature and patient experiences, include personal therapy (there are many types), certain amino acids and antioxidant vitamins such as glycine or sarcosine supplements, and a healthy diet. Information on all these and other treatments can be found on our Complementary Treatments page.

In the case of therapy, some research has shown that psychotherapy and medication can be more effective than medication alone (however, the same study noted that psycotherapy alone was NOT a substitute for medication). The three main types of psychosocial therapy are: behavioral therapy (focuses on current behaviors) cognitive therapy (focuses on thoughts and thinking patterns) and interpersonal therapy (focuses on current relationships). For schizophrenia, cognitive-behavioral therapy has shown the most promise in conjunction with medication.

The website '96 alternative therapy tips for people with schizophrenia', has some alternative treatment suggestions from stress reduction to cognitive therapy exercises. The site moderators advocate using their strategies concurrently with medication therapy.

For more information, see Treating Schizophrenia - What Are the Options? (ABC News webcast). ABC news host talks with a panel of experts about what treatments are out there and how successful they are.. Link to video file and transcript. (If you don't have it, Download Quicktime video player.)