Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of Chronic Positive Psychotic Symptoms

Abstract

The lifetime prevalence ofschizophrenia varies according to epidemiological studies between 1-1.5 %. Although modern pharmacotherapy led to a significant reduction of patient’ssuffering, about 25% of schizophrenic patients are described as “pharmacologically resistant” and 20-60% stop taking recommendedmedication. Except the symptoms that are resistant to the treatment, progression of the disease is negatively influenced by other factors, such aspremorbid personality, cognitive deficit, family and interpersonal problems, drug and alcohol abuse, stigmatization. All these factors are pointing to theneed to add systematic psychotherapeutic interventions to the biologicaltreatment. Hallucinations are the manifestation of perception disorder. Themost frequent hallucinations in schizophrenia are the auditory hallucinations, in which the patient hears voices. The patient often interprets the content ofhallucinatory experiences as delusions, which leads to negative emotionalreactions and obvious maladaptive behavior. The aim of CBT is to help thepatient to use more critical approach to hallucinations and have them more likeunder control. The paper presents an overview of CBT approaches for therapeuticinfluence on chronic hallucinations.