Intermittent Medication, Coping and Psychotherapy Interactions in Relapse Prevention and Course Modification

There has been increasing interest in intermittent medication as a viable alternative to continuous neuroleptic treatment for chronic schizophrenic patients. Considerations supporting the plausibility of a targeted-medication approach include the fact that long-term medication involves certain risks, and that neither favourable outcome in the long-term nor risk of relapse are necessarily dependent on the continuous administration of neuroleptic drugs. An intermittent-targeted administration strategy was developed by Herzet al(1989) in an attempt to abort relapses at an early stage and to stabilise or to improve the course taken by illness.