Schizophrenia: What Non-Psychiatrist Physicians Need to Know

Authors

  • Tiago Pinto Queirós Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa.
  • Filipa Semeão Coelho Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa.
  • Ludgero Arruda Linhares Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa.
  • Diogo Telles Correia Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa. Departamento de Psiquiatria. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisboa.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.10768

Keywords:

Antipsychotic Agents, Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia/diagnosis, Schizophrenia/therapy

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a disabling and severe mental illness that affects all social classes and racial and ethnic groups, spreading across every part of the world. It’s more frequent in males and it usually manifests itself in late adolescence or early adulthood and its early detection by all clinicians is important so that there is a proper referral to specialized psychiatric care. This article intends to update the knowledge regarding the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of schizophrenia, with an emphasis on the warning signs for a timely referral to psychiatric evaluation. We conducted a literature search across through articles available in databases of scientific articles but also in scientific and technical books specialized in the field of schizophrenia. The clinical presentation of this illness is heterogeneous and complex, with a typical evolution based on several episodes of acute decompensation requiring hospitalization. The diagnosis of schizophrenia relies on some key symptoms, and the various international diagnostic criteria vary in relation to the temporal window with productive symptomatology required to establish a diagnosis. The prognosis is variable, not always deteriorating and is all the better when the treatment is started as early as possible. Treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach and is based primarily on antipsychotic drugs. This medication although very effective for the typical symptoms of this illness, entails some adverse effects with medical consequences that are important in the clinical practice of all doctors of other specialties.

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Author Biographies

Tiago Pinto Queirós, Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa.

Interno do 2º ano do Internato Formação Específica em Psiquiatria do Serviço de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental - Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte.

Filipa Semeão Coelho, Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa.

Interna do 2º ano do Internato Formação Específica em Psiquiatria do Serviço de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental - Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte.

Ludgero Arruda Linhares, Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa.

Interno do 4º ano do Internato Formação Específica em Psiquiatria do Serviço de Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental - Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte.

Diogo Telles Correia, Serviço de Psiquiatria. Hospital de Santa Maria. Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte. Lisboa. Departamento de Psiquiatria. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisboa.

Professor Auxiliar com Agregação da Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa.
Assistente Hospitalar Graduado do Departamento de Psiquiatria, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte.

Published

2019-02-01

How to Cite

1.
Queirós TP, Coelho FS, Linhares LA, Correia DT. Schizophrenia: What Non-Psychiatrist Physicians Need to Know. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 2019 Feb. 1 [cited 2024 Nov. 8];32(1):70-7. Available from: https://actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/10768

Issue

Section

Review Articles