ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the current state of our knowledge about schizophrenia. It begins with a discussion of history and phenomenology of the disorder, and then proceed to a description of some of the key findings which have shed light on the risk factors, the development and the progression of this illness, and finally to a discussion of evidence-based interventions. Bleuler’s “accessory symptoms” of schizophrenia included delusions, hallucinations, movement disturbances, somatic symptoms, and manic and melancholic states. In contrast to fundamental symptoms, he believed that these accessory symptoms were not present in all patients with schizophrenia and often occurred in other illnesses. Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate deficits in motivation, decision-making, and learning that suggest impairments in aspects of the reward system, the system responsible for generating a response to rewarding stimuli.
