Talk Therapy Tops Meds for Schizophrenia

A landmark government-funded study published Tuesday found that schizophrenia patients who lowered the dosage of antipsychotic drugs and placed a bigger emphasis on one-on-one talk therapy made greater improvements in recovery over the first two years of treatment compared with those who sought typical drug-focused care. The report, published in the The American Journal of Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, could help determine a new standard of care focusing on combined treatment for the more than two million people diagnosed with schizophrenia in the U.S.