Although the research described in this paper spans over 25 years, very few firm
conclusions can be made about the coping strategies utilized by individuals with
psychosis in response to stressors directly associated with their illness or with more
general, independent, and stressful events. These conclusions are that most
individuals experiencing psychosis implement at least one strategy to cope with
symptoms and life events and most implement more than one strategy. It appears
that having a repertoire of strategies to employ leads to greater effectiveness than
simply relying on one strategy. It also seems that there is no one coping strategy that
is universally effective and situational or other factors may influence both the choice
of coping strategy implemented and its efficacy. A number of studies have indicated
that non-symptomatic coping is more effective in response to positive psychotic
symptoms, but specific conclusions about how best to cope with negative symptoms
cannot yet be made. It can also be tentatively concluded that task-oriented coping and social avoidance in response to life stressors has a positive impact on quality of
life whilst emotion-oriented coping impacts negatively on quality of life.