Alternative treatment for schizophrenia

A study published on Feb. 6 in The Lancet, a British paper, and also reported in an article in U.S. News Health found that psychotherapy may be a successful form of treatment for schizophrenia patients. More specifically, cognitive behavioral therapy may be an option for those patients who can't or won't take antipsychotic drugs. Researchers in Britain said that psychotherapy can boost patients' personal and social functioning.

Serious side effects of schizophrenia medications, mean that some people choose not to take the drugs. If psychotherapy proves to be an effective form of treatment, people with schizophrenia can bypass the drugs and choose the other route.

A team of psychologists tracked 74 schizophrenia patients from age 16 to 65, who had not taken antipsychotic drugs for at least six months. The results of the study showed that the patients who received cognitive behavioral therapy showed greater improvements after 18 months that those that did not receive therapy.

"The findings show "that cognitive therapy is an acceptable intervention for a population who are usually considered to be very challenging to engage in mental health services," Morrison said in the article.

A documentary called "Take These Broken Wings" researched the best treatments for schizophrenia without medication. Experts and patients weighed in on their experience and research with psychotherapy:

For more on the study, reference the article on the U.S. News Health website