Cost Considerations in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

In the United States, schizophrenia is most widely understood as a biogenetically determined illness. Those given this diagnosis are seen as unlikely to recover. In the West, pharmacological treatment is the primary intervention offered by mainstream mental health practitioners. However, in the United States and abroad, there is growing controversy about both the causes of and efficacy of treatment for individuals who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. A longitudinal study launched in 1969 by the staff of the World Health Organization reported that in the United States, Denmark and Taiwan, 40% of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia were found to be “severely impaired;” whereas in the developing world (Nigeria, India and Colombia) only 24% of those diagnosed with schizophrenia were judged to be “severely impaired” (Watters 2010).

The disparity in outcomes has been attributed to three characteristics of industrialized culture: 1) reliance on psychopharmacology; 2) the “othering” of individuals experiencing mental distress; and 3) the social isolation that ensues from this “othering.” For many who practice in community mental health settings in the United States, the most there is to offer patients with psychosis is a referral to a psychiatrist who will prescribe neuroleptics (Lovell 1997). After further research into the current state of available pharmacological and psychosocial treatments, there are still many unmet needs in the prevention and treatment of schizophrenia. Despite the supposed transformation of treatment in the 1990’s and the introduction of new medicine, treatment of schizophrenia today is not adequate due to costs, misunderstandings of the disease, and racial disparities.

General History of Treatment

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