Why Early Identification is Key to Functional Recovery in Schizophrenia

The earlier a mental health condition is identified, the sooner treatment (and recovery) can begin.

Psych Congress Network sat down with Christoph Correll, MD, professor of psychiatry, Hosftra Northwell School of Medicine, on-site at Psych Congress 2023 in Nashville, TN, to discuss why early intervention in schizophrenia is key to effective treatment and functional recovery.

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Read the Transcript

Christoph Correll, MD: Hi, I'm Christoph Correll, Professor of Psychiatry and Molecular Medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New York. I'm also Professor and Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Charité University in Berlin, Germany. Welcome to this program.

In all of medicine, earlier is better. Early intervention and identification of people with a first episode of schizophrenia is crucial. We know that a longer duration of untreated psychosis is associated with few worse states at the beginning, but actually, then, during the treatment course, there are more and more symptom domains and outcome domains where people lag behind, that had longer duration of untreated psychosis. We also will have to work closely with patients to get them understand the illness. Psychoeducation is relevant, both for patients, but also family members. We also want to wrap around psychosocial interventions, this backbone of pharmacological treatment, so that patients can be reintegrated as quickly as possible into their social and educational and vocational environments, because the more there is a gap, the more patients suffer psychosis or have relapses, the less likely it is that they don't only have symptom improvement or remission, but also recovery, functional recovery, which is the main goal when we treat people with severe mental illness.

Christoph Correll, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, New York, and medical director of the Recognition and Prevention program at the Zucker Hillside Hospital, New York. Dr Correll completed his medical studies at both the Free University of Berlin in Germany and at the Dundee University Medical School in Scotland. Dr Correll is board-certified in general psychiatry, having completed his residency at The Zucker Hillside Hospital in New York City.