Kazumitsu Sugiura
Anxiety disorders commonly co-occur in patients of schizophrenia and have signiï¬Âcant inï¬?uence on course and prognosis of schizophrenia. However, probably due to diagnostic and treatment hierarchical reductionism anxiety disorders have been overlooked in schizophrenia. Review of the literature reveal great differences in prevalence estimates as a result of variations in symptom descriptions and different diagnostic instruments. There are significant differences in psychopathology of individuals with Schizophrenia with and without anxiety disorders. With regard to treatment response it is seen that subjects with Schizophrenia and anxiety disorders respond poorly to only antipsychotics but respond better to antipsychotics plus the SSRIs. Further, the duration of illness of schizophrenia subjects with anxiety disorder is comparatively briefer.
