The management of chronic schizophrenia

With the movement of psychiatric patients from chronic mental hospitals to local communities over the past 20 years, family physicians have provided care for increasing numbers of chronic schizophrenia patients. The residual symptoms which these patients demonstrate require special communication skills on the part of the physician if a collaborative patient-physician relationship is to be established. The management of the disease should be founded on an understanding of its psychopathology. In this paper, the authors describe this psychopathology and suggest therapeutic interactions and interventions specific to the disease process.