Stages, course and prognosis of psychosis

Psychosis usually erupts early during development and can be disabling for life. Symptoms are more common in young people and the majority of patients remain symptomatic for their whole lifespan. Identifying psychosis in early stages is of major importance in terms of treatment. Recent developments on medication have had positive results on problematic symptoms; however, unwanted side effects and non-compliance of patients' to their doctors' descriptions often contribute to the decrease of recovery odds. Early stages of psychosis can be very distressing for both the patient and the closed environment. There is often a delay of time for treatment, after experiencing the first symptoms of psychosis. The longer this delay is, the poorer the treatment outcomes are, in terms of symptoms. During the early stages of psychosis, the symptoms are not always obvious from the beginning. However, they can begin to develop and increase in number, severity and rate of recurrence during the 2^nd and 3^rd phase. Patients may lose touch with reality or their capacity to function in an organized integrated manner. The continuity among the stages makes it more difficult to define when a person has slipped to psychosis, however, early identification and treatment is more likely to reduce the burden of the disease. Relapses are also common and unfortunately, treatment of subsequent episodes of psychosis is less pleasing than the first. Consequently, since the developmental progression is partly based on early identification and intervention , on timely therapy is therefore essential so that the patient develops techniques to identify, monitor and reduce possible relapses.