Open Dialogue Approach

According to the World Health Organization, schizophrenia affects over 24 million individuals between the ages of 15 and 35 worldwide. Schizophrenia is a serious and disabling mental illness that manifests behaviors falling into three broad categories: positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms are considered to be behaviors that individuals acquire as a result of their illness. In the case of schizophrenia, this could include hallucinations and delusions (psychosis) and thought and/or movement disorders. Negative symptoms are considered to be those behaviors that individuals lose as a result of their illness, such as the ability to show affect, to begin and sustain daily activities, to interact with others, or even to find pleasure in their daily life. Cognitive symptoms include diminished executive functioning ...