Recent insights into the immune-inflammatory dysregulation theory in schizophrenia have uncovered the potential for new treatment protocols. Currently, treatment approaches for patients on medications that experience breakthrough symptoms of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder include adjusting dosages, switching medications, or adding additional antipsychotic medications. These approaches help to curb the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, e.g. hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre or disorganized thoughts, while failing to modulate the negative symptoms, including loss of motivation, loss of energy, slowed thinking, movements, and speech production, and do not help significantly with general symptoms like depression, anxiety, and fatigue. While the popular idea of schizophrenia focuses on these “positive” symptoms, negative and general symptoms are generally associated with a patient’s ability to function in day-to-day life, and there is a clear need for an effective treatment for these as well.
Chengappa, K. N. R., Brar, J. S., Gannon, J. M., & Schlicht, P. J. (2018). Adjunctive Use of a Standardized Extract of <em>Withania somnifera</em> (Ashwagandha) to Treat Symptom Exacerbation in Schizophrenia. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 79(5). https://doi.org/10.4088/jcp.17m11826