ATTENUATED PSYCHOSIS SYNDROME

A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Despite recent findings on the treatment of schizophrenia, it is an illness still associated with high morbidity and incapacity in
social and work domains. There is a growing interest in examining the phases prior to the development of the illness so as to
make early interventions that would potentially change its devastating course. The attenuated psychosis syndrome was included
in the section III of the last version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a condition in which a patient
exhibits mild psychotic symptoms, an intact reality testing and certain degree of social or occupational impairment. The present
work is a review of the available literature on this subject. The main findings were: the risk of conversion to a psychotic disorder
is relatively low and there are some variables (social withdrawal, negative symptoms, neurocognitive impairment, poor global
functioning and certain neuroimaging findings) that increase this risk. Those people diagnosed with attenuated psychosis syndrome
had one or more other current psychiatric comorbid conditions and these are the main reason to warrant medical attention.
Regarding to the treatment of this condition, there are available evidence on atypical antipsychotics, cognitive-behavioral therapy
and omega 3 fatty acid.