{"id":553918,"date":"2026-03-22T20:36:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553918\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T20:36:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T20:36:12","slug":"early-schizophrenia-signs-may-hold-key-to-preventing-psychosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553918\/","title":{"rendered":"Early schizophrenia signs may hold key to preventing psychosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Scientists<\/p>\n

Scientists studying schizophrenia have started to look for\u00a0biomarkers \u2014\u00a0biological cues such as something in the blood or on a brain scan \u2014 that are associated with the disorder.<\/p>\n

Vadym Terelyuk\/Getty ImagesAbout 25% of people with high-risk symptoms in the Bay Area and other regions will develop schizophrenia, usually within two years of first reporting symptoms.Early treatment with therapy and non-antipsychotic medications can improve symptoms for those at high risk, even if they do not develop schizophrenia.Researchers in the Bay Area are studying brain activity and biomarkers to better predict which high-risk patients will develop schizophrenia and to guide earlier intervention.<\/p>\n

The earliest signs of schizophrenia aren\u2019t subtle. People may start hearing voices in their head, or becoming suspicious of others. They may feel like they\u2019re being followed or wonder if a chip has been implanted in their brain.<\/p>\n

These symptoms are troubling, but on their own, they don\u2019t necessarily mean someone has schizophrenia. Not yet.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Now teams of doctors around the world, including a squadron at UCSF, are studying individuals with these early signs of illness to determine who will go on to develop schizophrenia, and if there may be ways to intervene early and lessen the severity of disease or stop it entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know people don\u2019t generally wake up in full psychosis having no symptoms the day before,\u201d said Dr. Daniel Mathalon, a psychiatrist who runs the UCSF Path Program for Early Psychosis. \u201cIf we can identify people before psychosis develops, that could help us alter the course of disease or even prevent it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathalon studies people with what\u2019s known as high-risk syndrome for schizophrenia. These are individuals who may be hearing voices or feeling like someone is watching them, but they don\u2019t yet believe those voices or feelings. In other words, a voice may be telling them that the government is out to get them, but they aren\u2019t convinced it\u2019s true.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n

Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In many cases, individuals experiencing these symptoms are scared and confused. Some may be fearful of developing full-blown psychosis, in which they can\u2019t tell what\u2019s real and what\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Schizophrenia has long been perceived as a devastating mental illness that can ruin young lives and cause decades of heartache. It is a brain disorder marked by delusions, hallucinations and disorganized speech and thinking.<\/p>\n

With medication, those symptoms can be well managed, but some people with schizophrenia struggle to access or stay on treatment and have trouble holding a job or managing personal relationships. They may face repeated episodes of homelessness and psychiatric hospitalizations.<\/p>\n

About 1% of the total population will develop schizophrenia, but that rate is much higher for those experiencing the high-risk syndrome. Among the high-risk group, about 25% will develop schizophrenia, most of them in the first year or two after reporting symptoms.<\/p>\n

But 75% of people with those concerning symptoms will not develop schizophrenia or full-blown psychosis. And for all individuals in the high-risk category, early treatment\u00a0\u2014 including therapy and anti-anxiety or anti-depressant drugs\u00a0\u2014 can improve symptoms.<\/p>\n

Doctors don\u2019t give anti-psychotic drugs to patients in the high-risk category because they can have bad side effects and there is no evidence that those medications prevent schizophrenia. But for patients who do develop schizophrenia, getting them started right away on anti-psychotics can improve their long-term outcome. That\u2019s another reason for them to seek care before psychosis develops, so patients already are connected to all the services they will need.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cVisually what we all typically see day to day, as far as schizophrenia, are the people struggling the most, on the street,\u201d said Dr. Jacob Ballon, a psychiatrist who is co-director of Stanford\u2019s INSPIRE Clinic for people experiencing psychosis. But he has patients who work full time and are married in addition to those with major lifestyle struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m often cognizant of the fact that when I tell too many positive stories, that\u2019s not everyone\u2019s experience. I want to face the wide range of outcomes,\u201d Ballon said. \u201cBut there\u2019s room for optimism. There are things that can be done and there are positive outcomes. I think operating from a place of hope offers that possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research into the high-risk syndrome began in Australia, Mathalon said, where care providers began interviewing people with schizophrenia about what was going on in their lives in the period just before their first psychotic episode.<\/p>\n

Those patients described hearing voices or having unsettling beliefs, but also feeling confused or mistrustful of what they were experiencing. In many cases, they also had started having trouble in school or holding a job, or begun to withdraw from friends and family and isolate themselves.<\/p>\n

More recently, scientists have started to look for biomarkers, biological cues such as something in the blood or on a brain scan, that are associated with schizophrenia. Just this month, Northwestern University announced it had found a new biomarker<\/a> in the spinal fluid of people with schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Mathalon has identified abnormal brain activity related to schizophrenia. He found that when most people hear a certain sound over headphones, a specific brain wave will appear 300 milliseconds later. High-risk patients who will develop schizophrenia tend to have less electrical activity when hearing this sound than those patients who will not develop schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Studying those patients and the biomarkers is important for two reasons: It could help doctors determine which high-risk patients will develop schizophrenia and allow them to start antipsychotic medications earlier. It also could help scientists study other potential drugs for treatment of schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

One of the main battles care providers still face in treating schizophrenia is the shame and fear associated with the condition. Many people believe that having schizophrenia will ruin their chances at a fulfilling and successful life.<\/p>\n

Patty Evans developed schizophrenia in her 20s, though she recalls having some symptoms in her teens, when she began hearing voices. She was too afraid to tell her parents, so she went off to school and even studied abroad before the psychosis fully hit.<\/p>\n

For a year or two it felt like her life derailed, Evans said. She was depressed and suicidal. She couldn\u2019t hold a job. The voices were so loud in her head that she would sometimes just stop what she was doing to listen. At night, she would write long essays to herself that made no sense.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

But eventually she got on medication and it helped her stabilize. Evans went back to school and became a computer programmer, a job she held for 40 years. She\u2019s 73 now and essentially symptom-free.<\/p>\n

Though schizophrenia was not an easy condition to manage, she wants people to know that it doesn\u2019t have to be the end of their world. She regularly shares her story on behalf of NAMI San Francisco\u00a0\u2014 the National Alliance on Mental Illness\u00a0\u2014 to help challenge the stigma of schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really doing well,\u201d she said recently, taking a break from gardening in her San Francisco yard. \u201cI had some ups and downs. It was hard, but I managed to get through my whole career and retire. Now I\u2019m on one psychoactive drug, and that\u2019s all I need.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that even people who still struggle with their psychosis can have full lives. One woman she knows well is studying to become a therapist. Another man takes care of his elderly mother full-time. \u201cHe still hears voices, but he is the most kind, kind person,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s absolutely joyful when he\u2019s with people that like him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scientists studying schizophrenia have started to look for\u00a0biomarkers \u2014\u00a0biological cues such as something in the blood or on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394,214847],"class_list":["post-553918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-us-and-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}