Insight and illness in chronic schizophrenia

The role of insight in relation to the diagnosis and treatment of psychotic disorders has received renewed attention in psychiatric and psychological literature. Degree of insight has been found to generally associate with social and occupational functioning, prognosis, and treatment outcome. However, the relationship between insight and symptoms of illness is not known due to previous studies that yielded conflicting results. This study tested the association between general insight and symptomatology in a sample of 66 patients with chronic schizophrenia. Degree of insight was significantly related to positive symptomatology; however, it was not related to demographics, negative symptoms, general psychopathology, or global functioning. These results are supported by several other investigations in this area.