The prodromal phase of first-episode psychosis: Past and current conceptualizations

Abstract

The initial prodrome in psychosis is potentially important for early intervention, identification of biological markers, and understanding the process of becoming psychotic. This article reviews the previous literature on prodrome, including descriptions of symptoms and signs, and patterns and durations of prodromes in both schizophrenic and affective psychoses. Early detailed descriptions, achieved through mainly anecdotal reports, are compared with current conceptualizations, such as the DSM-III-R checklist of mainly behavioral items, which seeks to enhance reliability of measurement but at the expense of adequately describing the full range of phenomena. Current confusion about the nature..