A study of hospitalized paranoid schizophrenics with grandiose symptomatology

Twenty-one paranoid schizophrenics who were being treated in a therapeutic community were divided into groups with grandiose and nongrandiose symptomatology, based on ratings on the Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale. The nine nongrandiose patients showed significantly greater improvement during hospitalization. A follow-up of five nongrandiose and nine grandiose patients one year after discharge revealed a trend toward greater improvement by the nongrandiose group. The authors feel that a patient's grandiosity creates a barrier that keeps the therapist and the members of the therapeutic community at a distance and makes him less accessible to therapeutic intervention. The field dependence of patients was also rated, but was of no prognostic significance.