Recovery From Schizophrenia: Psychiatry And Political Economy

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SCHIZOPHRENIA 147• The effect of both economic stress and unemployment on patients in thecommunity could account for the decreased recovery rate from schizophreniaduring the twentieth-century Great Depression.• Many of the negative symptoms of long-term schizophrenia are identical withthe psychological sequelae of long-term unemployment.• Rehabilitative and reintegrative efforts for the mentally ill fluctuate with thebusiness cycle and may contribute to changes in outcome in schizophrenia.• Females with schizophrenia achieve better outcome than men.• People with schizophrenia from the lower social classes achieve worseoutcome than higher-class patients.• Outcome from schizophrenia in full-employment societies may be better thanin other industrial nations.