Assessment and treatment of the risk of psychosis in adolescents--a review.

Background: When psychosis first presents, and particularly in the case of schizophrenia, the guidelines recommend rapid institution of treatment with atypical antipsychotics. Two different clinical pictures can be observed: psychoses with acute onset and those with insidious onset. Acute cases (60% of the total) have a favourable course in 85% of young patients but where onset is insidious and the symptoms are predominantly negative, the course is poor in 25% of subjects.

Adolescents and young adults at ultrahigh risk of psychosis: detection, prediction and treatment. A review of current knowledge.

Background: The onset of psychosis is mostly preceded by a prodromal phase in which occur a series of various attenuated positive symptoms, negative symptoms and functional impairment. Recently, several longitudinal studies have evaluated the validity and prediction power of the "prodromal risk syndrome for psychosis", which could lead to a better focused management of the patients at real risk of developing schizophrenia. At the same time, several authors have studied the pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for people at ultrahigh risk.