Bob
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This all sounds very familiar...
Keith Laws and colleagues have carried out a review of CBT meta-analyses for schizophrenia.
They found that there was only only a small improvement in symptoms, but when the best quality studies were analysed (when the researchers were blinded), there was no significant improvement.
CBT tackles the 'underlying causes' of schizophrenia? Er, right.
I can understand how CBT might help some people with mild symptoms of schizophrenia to cope, to manage the illness, and to help them recognise symptoms etc. But to say that CBT tackles the underlying cause suggests a worrying level of ignorance.
Familiar?
Keith Laws and colleagues have carried out a review of CBT meta-analyses for schizophrenia.
They found that there was only only a small improvement in symptoms, but when the best quality studies were analysed (when the researchers were blinded), there was no significant improvement.
Schizophrenia: talking therapy offers 'little benefit'
BBC news
2 January 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25574773
...
A University of Hertfordshire team analysed over 50 studies on the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) from around the world.
...
It found that CBT did have a small benefit in treating delusions and hallucinations - which is what the therapy was was originally developed to target.
But the researchers said even this small effect disappeared when only studies using 'blind testing' were taken into account - this is where researchers do not know which group of patients are receiving the therapy.
Keith Laws, professor of cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Hertfordshire who led the study, questioned the use of CBT.
He said: "With this evidence, the current government policy which mandates this treatment for all patients with schizophrenia in England and Wales needs to be reconsidered."
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) argues CBT is effective, and recommend it for all people with the disorder.
...
But Paul Jenkins, chief executive of the charity Rethink Mental Illness, said: "There's a significant amount of anecdotal evidence from our members who have schizophrenia that talking therapies, like CBT, are an invaluable tool for helping them manage their illness and improve their quality of life.
"We have found that CBT can help people understand and respond better to voices in their head and to hallucinations, tackle the underlying causes of their condition and give them a more optimistic outlook."
CBT tackles the 'underlying causes' of schizophrenia? Er, right.
I can understand how CBT might help some people with mild symptoms of schizophrenia to cope, to manage the illness, and to help them recognise symptoms etc. But to say that CBT tackles the underlying cause suggests a worrying level of ignorance.
Familiar?
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