Television Therapy Helps Schizophrenics

With current treatments for schizophrenia turning out to be a disaster--or am I a delusional, scare-people-off-meds guy for citing NIMH-funded research showing that anti-psychotics don't have robust efficacy?--some researchers are turning to fairly novel ideas to address schizophrenia. And the treatment of schizophrenia could really stand to see some novel ideas.

Anyhow, two researchers are using a therapy called Social Interaction and Cognition Training (SCIT). It uses videos, computers, role-playing and other methods to help people with schizophrenia understand social cues and intentionality coming from others. These are big problems in paranoid schizophrenia, of course, where schizophrenics are assaulted by the idea that everyone is out to get them, they are being persecuted, etc., when nothing of the sort is going on. Reportedly, SCIT has had some success in getting patients to stop inferring hostile intent to the acts of others.

I hope others take up this kind of research, because I don't think any of the drug-based remedies for schizophrenia are going to be getting us much further than they already have.