ABSTRACT

Schizophrenia is among the most debilitating of mental illnesses. It is typically diagnosed between 20 and 25 years of age, a stage of life when most people gain independence from parents, develop intimate romantic relationships, plan educational pursuits, and begin work or career endeavors (De Lisi, 1992). Because the clinical onset usually occurs during this pivotal time, the illness can have a profound negative impact on the individual’s opportunities for attaining social and occupational success, and the consequences can be devastating for the patient’s life course, as well as for family members (Addington & Addington, 2005). Further, the illness knows no national boundaries. Across cultures, estimates of the lifetime prevalence of schizophrenia range around 1% (Keith, Regier, & Rae, 1991; Kulhara, & Chakrabarti, 2001; Torrey, 1987; Arajarvi et al., 2005), although there is some research indicating that the rate may be somewhat lower with more stringent measurement criteria (0.4%; Saha Chant, Welham, & McGrath, 2005). Studies also suggest that the prognosis may differ among countries, with better outcomes in developing nations (Kulhara & Chakrabarti, 2001). However, more recent evidence suggest that variation in prognosis may not be that straightforward as there appears to be differences within individual developing nations in course of illness and discrepancies in measurement; it may be that access to treatment is associated with better outcome across countries (Cohen, Patel, Thara, & Gureje, 2008).