90% schizophrenia recovery/significant improvement rate researcher Dr. Harding says. That she said is the accurate understanding of her data from the Vermont study. The full range of follow up data is available in the table below on this page.
A person receiving a diagnosis or label of schizophrenia loses hope and enters a state of anguish caused by the treatment experience of meaninglessness, hopelessness and helplessness. Much of this hopelessness for people psychiatrically labeled is not due to a disease but to the mental health systems designed to treat it.
Pat Deegan PhD, a psychologist diagnosed with schizophrenia,, defines recovery from serious mental illness as “Rediscovering meaning and purpose after a series of catastrophic events.” When someone becomes labeled seriously mentally ill especially with schizophrenia, he loses not only sanity (albeit temporarily for the great majority people), but also position in society, income, friends and, in many cases, family and possessions.
Mental health systems are set up for maintenance and communicate that life is without hope of significant accomplishment once serious mental illness like schizophrenia has set in. Yet, experience shows that recovery from schizophrenia is possible. See Recovered Professionals Labeled with Schizophrenia
Experience and research teaches that with expectations of recovery and proper support, people can regain their lives and their independence.
Recovery theories are grounded in longitudinal studies of schizophrenia. According to Nancy Andreasen, MD, schizophrenia is considered probably the cruelest and most devastating of all the persistent mental illnesses. Dr Andreasen also has said that her data point to brain shrinkage due to anti-psychotic medications and NOT to any underlying biology of schizophrenia. ( Click to see NY Times article on schizophrenia where she says: the more drugs you’ve been given, the more brain tissue you lose.)
Is this true that this is such a devastating disease? Perhaps as a social label. The label of schizophrenia is social death sentence.
But is there any scientific evidence that schizophrenia is a degenerative biological disease as Emil Kraepelin said in the 1920′s? Kraepelin’s deputy Rudin became a Nazi collaborator and his degenerative biological disease model became the basis of the extermination of people labeled by Hitler as “useless eaters”
[ On Kraepelin's background see: Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry
( American mental health programming remains largely based on this degenerative disease model even without evidence to substantiate it. Aaron Beck MD in his book on Schizophrenia summarized the lack of evidence. He reports there are no agreed upon repeated anatomical or phyciological differences between drug niave people labeled with schizophrenia and those not so labeled. As for genetic evidence Beck summarizes that there are as yet no genes proven to be associated and that if you take the best candidates they only account for from 6% to 15% of the cases.
Evidence which is not replicable is not really evidence in science. But one time statistical associations which are not repeated findings are blasted all over the internet by groups like The Treatment Advocacy Committee (which is paid for by the largest psychiatric drug experimental trials company in the world). Other “advocacy” organizations who receive a majority of their funding from psychiatric drug manufacturers also blast unreplicated or unrepeated “research”. Mental Health First Aid is also being spread. It has very stereotypical information which is scientifically inaccurate especially about schizophrenia. (I am preparing a paper for a scientific journal on this issue.) A description of this mental system programming which is based on ritual shaming is found at Mental Health Rituals, Disempowering, Empowering Schizophrenia is the most ritually shamed label. Perhaps the worst public ritual shaming is carried on by E.Fuller Torrey in the face of overwhelming evidence of the inaccuracy of his statements.
This question therefore, serves as a touchstone for recovery based models of treatment.
So how many people labeled with schizophrenia actually recover? This data is most often ignored.
There are now over 12 longitudinal studies of schizophrenia and the average over them all is 63%.
Schizophrenia Recovery Research
| Study | Sample Size | Average Length Years | Percent Recovered or Signicantly Improved |
|---|---|---|---|
| M. Bleuler 1972 to 1978 Switzerland | 208 | 23 | 53-68 |
| Hinterhuber 1973 Austria | 157 | 30 apprx | 75 |
| Huber et al 1975 Germany | 512 | 22 | 57 |
| Chiompi and Muller 1976 Switzerland | 289 | 37 | 53 |
| Kreditor 1977 Lithuania | 115 | 20+ | 84 |
| Tsuang et al 1977 USA | 200 | 35 | 46 |
| Marinow 1986 Bulgaria | 280 | 20 | 75 |
| Harding et al 1987b 1987c USA | 269 | 32 | 62, 68 |
| Ogawa et al 1987 Japan | 140 | 22.5 | 56 |
| Desisto et al 1995a 1995b USA | 269 | 35 | 49 |
| Marneros et al 1992 | 148 | 25 | 58 |
| Isos ICD 10 Sz Only Incidence | 502 | 13 to 17 | 67 |
| Isos ICD 10 Sz Only Prevalance | 142 | 26 | 63 |
( See also Summary Schizophrenia Long Term Follow Up Research)
Here we are correcting serious mis-interpretations of Harding’s data on recovery from schizophrenia.
Dr. Harding’s data are all the more powerful because she was studying the bottom 19% in the functional hierarchy in a large state hospital. Some of the people with schizophrenia in her study had regressed to speaking in animal like sounds. Most had been in the institution for 10 or so years, many had been in and out repeatedly. The cohort is the least functional ever studied longitudinally in world literature on schizophrenia.
Nevertheless, of this bottom 19%, 62% to 68% fully recovered or significantly improved. The recovery happened when they were taken from the very debilitating hospital environments and taught the skills and supported to live in the community at a great tax savings.
Given this:
IN THIS STUDY IF ONE DOES THE MATH. THE ACTUAL RECOVERY FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA is 90%.
Can mental systems do something to raise rates? Yes. Support people labeled in setting meaningful goals and teach skills. Skills to “managed” “symptoms”. Skills to do a meaningful job. Skills to connect. This is what Dr. George Brooks did in Vermont in the early 50′s. It was this group Courtenay studied.
Two of the longitudinal studies on which the recovery model is based were done by Courtney Harding, PhD. Dr. Harding’s definition of recovery has four criteria:
having a social life indistinguishable from your neighbor
holding a job for pay or volunteering
being symptom free, and
being off medication.
Dr. Harding’s data in a recovery oriented system in Vermont point to recovery or significant improvement in 62% to 68% of people studied. Dr. Harding’s data are all the more powerful because she was studying the bottom 19% in the functional hierarchy in a large state hospital. Some of the people in her study had regressed to speaking in animal like sounds. Most had been in the institution for 10 or so years, many had been in and out repeatedly. The cohort is the least functional ever studied in world literature on schizophrenia. Nevertheless, of this bottom 19%, 62% to 68% fully recovered or significantly improved. Half of the cohort of 62% fully recovered meeting all four of Dr. Harding’s recovery criteria in this longitudinal study and half met three out of four criteria, usually continuing to take medications while meeting the other criteria. In other words half the 68% of the BOTTOM 19% were no longer on meds successfully without relapse.
In a companion longitudinal study to her Vermont study, Dr. Harding studied a system in Maine oriented to maintenance instead of recovery . Patients were considered incapable of accomplishing anything like holding jobs or volunteering. They were expected to be in and out of the hospital for the rest of their lives and basically live as totally disabled. In this system, in spite of the adverse expectations, people recovered or significantly improved at a rate of 49%. Vermont’s 62% to 68% recovery rate was significantly better. Those who had been studied in Vermont were significantly more likely to have lower symptoms and to work or volunteer. This points to the healing effects of meaningful activity, which the individual chooses to pursue for schizophrenia. see also Schizophrenia, neuroleptics,mortality.
On Tools for Recovery see Zen Dharma Recovery Mental Health Video And First Attempt Transforming Anxiety
Listen to Madness Radio Interview. Buddhist Meditation and Schizophrenia On bipolar diagnoses see Bipolar Mental Health Recovery Patterns
Some books of interest.
This first book from The Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation has a chapter by Dr. Courtenay Harding with a summary and analysis of 10 longitudinal outcome studies of schizophrenia demonstrating that it is not a degenerating biological disease but has rather high recovery rates. She trains at the Coalition of Behavioral Health Agencies in New York City.
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Join the following organizations:
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
MindFreedom and INTAR are organizations of survivors, family, friends and friendly professionals. JOIN!!! ACT!!!
Take steps to protect your self. Mind Freedom says about Mind Shield “Members of MindFreedom International use mutual support to help protect one another from unwanted coerced psychiatric procedures. Current MindFreedom members may register for the MindFreedom Shield for free.”
International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery
Icarus Project members helped my stay out of an emergency room when I had a non-psychiatric emergency. In ER’s labeled people are often mistreated.
The Icarus Project
Will Hall, psychotherapist from Portland Oregon(website WillHall.net):
Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs
Schizophrenia is NOT hopeless!!!
Read some on Kindle. The best buy to me is the $189 because it includes free 3g and is available in most places like your home if you can’t afford a monthly expense. You also get wifi capability and can access it free at places like McDonald’s. This gives you internet access cheaper than a computer.
The $139 model of Kindle gives you access to internet where wifi is free like McDonald’s and is less than a computer.
Kim Hopper PhD. A research study covering 18 countries. Showing 40% of people with schizophrenia work for pay across these countries and 20% with moderate to severe disability work for pay. Another %20 do meaningful household work as measured by scientific standards. This means that a meaningful contribution was made and would on the open market be paid for. So the total doing work is 60% with schizophrenia. Certainly a different picture than the media labeling and stereotyping.
Ralph and Corrigan reach the same conclusion that the actual recovery rate is 90% using a different method which gives further verification.
On the unnecessary and costly tragedy of “hospitalization”.
Transforming mental health systems to recovery.
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