Comparative Therapeutic Factors in Schizophrenia

Abstract

A comparative psychiatric study which evaluated the effects of milieu, group psychotherapy and occupational therapy on sixty-four chronic schizophrenic female patients has been described. These patients had been hospitalized for a mean period of seventeen years, eight months. Two of the factors, milieu and occupational therapy, did not significantly affect the patients' psychiatric condition as assessed by the three rating scales. The third factor, group psychotherapy, did significantly (p < 0.05) reduce the degree of anxiety without modifying the mental state or the behaviour. A fourth factor, repetition of the experiment, has been statistically analysed indicating that some elements deriving from the milieu may have been responsible for the higher degree of anxiety in the first group of patients.