What Does Recovery From Schizophrenia Mean? Perceptions of Medical Students and Trainee Psychiatrists

Background: The attitudes of medical professionals towards recovery from schizophrenia are key in defining the therapeutic encounter and may change as they move through their medical career. Method: A qualitative methodology was used based on three focus groups of medical students and trainee psychiatrists in Hong Kong. Both held pessimistic attitudes towards recovery in schizophrenia. Four major categories and one central theme emerged, with little difference between students and doctors. The four categories were: (1) recovery is defined by the cessation of medication and the resumption of normal psychosocial functioning; (2) formal recovery requires medical confirmation plus the patient’s admission of illness; (3) recovery should be discussed, but largely in terms of the contribution of drug compliance; and (4) participants recognized that stigma was an impediment to recovery while holding attitudes that were as unaccepting towards people with schizophrenia as lay people’s. Conclusions: Traditional medical education over-emphasizes symptomatic recovery and ignores the need for a more flexible construction of the concept. Professional knowledge must incorporate both quantitative and qualitative data and inculcate humanitarian concern through active contact with users, and acceptance of the legitimacy of their expert experience. Medical education should seek effective ways to change entrenched negative attitudes in students about schizophrenia and the possibility of recovery. Further large-scale research should be carried out to establish attitudes of medical professionals towards recovery from schizophrenia and how this changes during typical career trajectories. This information could then be used to devise effective means within medical education to combat stigma and change attitudes.