Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome: Don't Jump the Gun

Abstract

Attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS) was introduced in DSM-5 as a condition for further study. A number of concerns have been raised regarding APS, including its validity as a clinical entity, issues relating to stigma, the potential that it is an unnecessary diagnosis of what might be a self-limiting phase of attenuated psychotic symptoms, and treatment implications of the diagnosis. The current paper presents a number of conceptual and practical issues that should be addressed in deciding whether APS should be accepted as an official diagnosis in subsequent editions of DSM. These include the problem of transferring the established validity of 'at-risk' criteria to APS given some non-trivial..