Fully recovered schizophrenic patients who received intensive psychotherapy A Swedish case-finding study

In a nationwide case-finding study in Sweden eight individuals were found who fulfilled criteria for being fully recovered schizophrenics (DSM-III-R) treated with intensive psychotherapy. A common feature of the initial clinical picture was a low degree of positive symptoms with rather brief periods of auditive hallucinations and paranoid ideations. About half of the cases must be regarded as very likely to have been chronically institutionalized or to have suicided without psychotherapy. Seven of eight came from the same hospital, where a well-known psychotherapist has been working and supervising. Thus the result confirms that fully recovered psychotherapeutically treated schizophrenics exist at an institution offering competent treatment. Possibly, these individuals comprise a subgroup of more well-structured schizophrenics with affective traits.