Analysis of One Hundred Cases of Schizophrenia With Recovery

The literature on recovery from schizophrenia is extensive, but much of it is concerned with statements of outcome at varying lengths of time after hospitalization. A great many such discussions are included under the title of prognosis. Prognosis, however, if it is to mean anything, is not merely a statement of statistical probabilities for recovery but should also include some evaluation of the factors making for recovery, since, when one is confronted with an actual patient, this material is likely to be of greater helpfulness than a conjecture about the future, based on averages which far too often are compiled on such small series of cases as to be valueless. It was with the hope of organizing the observations of the various authors with specific reference to the factors contributing to recovery that an initial attempt was made to cull the literature on this aspect of the problem of recovery.