Towards DSM 5.1. Proposals for schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a debilitating illness, present in approximately 1% of the global population. It is manifested through positive symptoms including delusions, hallucinations, disorganized thoughts and negative symptoms such as avolition, alogia, and apathy. In 2013 the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) has been released and some changes were introduced to make diagnosis of schizophrenia more accurate and precise, but researchers are already studying how to improve again the diagnostic criteria of this disorder. To this regard, we hypothesize two types of schizophrenia: poor adherence and good adherence to treatment schizophrenia. Our supposition is based on the evidence of reduced relapses, rehospitalisations, and better long-term course of illness in those patients with schizophrenia who are non-adherent to treatment. Given that adherence to therapy strongly influences patients attitude to medication, quality of life, and subjective well-being, the hypothesis of introducing adherence as a new schizophrenia specifier is compelling.