Awareness of Illness in Schizophrenia

Overview

Journal Schizophr Bull

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 1991 Jan 1

PMID 2047782

Citations 67

Authors

X F Amador

D H Strauss

S A Yale

J M Gorman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on "poor insight" or unawareness of illness in schizophrenia. A large body of knowledge representing several different perspectives on insight has developed. This work can be divided into three broad categories, suggesting an important role for insight in the phenomenology, pathophysiology, and treatment of schizophrenia. The argument is made here that many of the self-awareness deficits observed in schizophrenia are of diagnostic significance, are neurally based, and are indispensable in guiding treatment decisions. In addition, this article proposes guidelines for assessing unawareness of illness in schizophrenia and discusses the relevance of such deficits to the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

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A Measure to Assess Illness Awareness in Problem Gambling: Gambling Awareness and Insight Scale (GAS).

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