Conclusions
Social disability affects the individual’s occupational and school performance,
impacts on self-care, and hinders family relationships and interpersonal
interactions. Social skills interventions are the treatment of choice to improve this
disability. Although there are a wide variety of programs that aim to improve social
functioning in people suffering from schizophrenia, it seems clear that these
programs must address directly the essential components of both pillars of
functional outcome: social cognition and social competence. Furthermore,
depression and social anxiety are common concomitants of schizophrenia that
have been treated almost exclusively with medication. However, by integrating
social skills training procedures into evidence-based psychological treatments for
these comorbid disorders, mood and anxiety disorders will be more effectively
treated (Kopelowicz et al., 2006). This integration should take into account the
stage of the illness: family interventions and psychoeducation for crisis therapy; the
pure behavioural approaches (token economy) for negative symptoms in chronic
patients; and CBT for positive symptoms, poor insight and poor compliance, in the
early stages of the disorder. Thus, a pragmatic combination of psychosocial
interventions, such us SST plus CBT or SST plus psychoeducation, could clearly
enhance the treatment outcomes and the patient’s recovery process.
Although the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders introduces no change on the diagnostic B criteria (social/occupational