Investigating the predictors of happiness, life satisfaction and success in schizophrenia.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that, despite marked functional impairments, remitted first episode patients with schizophrenia report levels of well-being that are comparable to healthy controls. The aim of the current study was to specifically evaluate self-reported happiness, life satisfaction and success in individuals with schizophrenia beyond their first-episode of psychosis, and to investigate the impact of symptoms and functioning on these subjective experiences.

Methods: Fifty-one schizophrenia patients and 56 matched healthy controls participated in the study.

Values in First-Episode Schizophrenia.

Objective: Functional impairment continues to represent a major challenge in schizophrenia. Surprisingly, patients with schizophrenia report a level of happiness comparable with control subjects, even in the face of the prominent functional deficits, a finding at odds with evidence indicating a positive relation between happiness and level of functioning. In attempting to reconcile these findings, we chose to examine the issue of values, defined as affectively infused criteria or motivational goals used to select and justify actions, people, and the self, as values are related to both happiness and functioning.

Daily activity patterns in remitted first-episode schizophrenia.

Background: Impairment in community functioning is characteristic of many individuals with schizophrenia. Despite a wealth of literature documenting such functional impairments, how patients spend their time on a daily basis and the types of activities they engage in remains less clear. The present investigation set out to examine the daily activity patterns of remitted first-episode patients with schizophrenia.

Component analysis of verbal fluency scores in severe traumatic brain injury.

Primary Objective: This study set out to examine the sensitivity of verbal fluency component scores in severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Research Design: A retrospective cross-sectional design was used, with control participants chosen at random from the community and TBI patients from litigation cases.

Methods And Procedures: Fifty-four healthy controls and 28 patients who had incurred a severe TBI were included in the study.

Antipsychotic response in first-episode schizophrenia: efficacy of high doses and switching.

Clinicians treating schizophrenia routinely employ high doses and/or antipsychotic switching to achieve response. However, little is actually known regarding the value of these interventions in early schizophrenia. Data were gathered from a treatment algorithm implemented in patients with first-episode schizophrenia that employs two antipsychotic trials at increasing doses before clozapine.

Clozapine and therapeutic drug monitoring: is there sufficient evidence for an upper threshold?

Rationale: Clozapine levels are advocated in the monitoring of patients on this drug and have now been used for a number of years. A safety-related threshold has also been proposed, as well as therapeutic lower and upper thresholds. While there has been reasonable consensus regarding a lower therapeutic threshold, this is not the case for the upper thresholds.

Happiness in first-episode schizophrenia.

Unlabelled: Happiness is a core dimension of a person's life, related to both functioning and success. As patients with schizophrenia experience marked functional deficits, it would be informative to investigate their level of happiness. There are limited data currently available, perhaps due to the longstanding belief that anhedonia is an inherent feature of this illness.

Component analysis of verbal fluency in patients with mild traumatic brain injury.

We set out to examine the sensitivity of switching and clustering component scores of verbal fluency in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Clustering and switching scores were compared between patients with mTBI and healthy normal controls as well as those with moderate TBI and severe TBI. Fifty-four healthy controls along with 20 mild TBI, 8 moderate TBI, and 12 severe TBI patients were included in the study.