Psychosis risk syndrome is not prodromal psychosis

One of the most exciting trends in schizophrenia research is the shift in focus from treatment studies to studies about the early identification and prevention of schizophrenia. These studies have primarily focused on adolescents or young adults with prodromal symptoms or on clinically high-risk individuals who show similar impairments in cognitive and social functioning to those seen in individuals with schizophrenia and, thus, are considered at high risk of developing schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. Some researchers have labeled this condition as psychosis risk syndrome (PRS). There are moves in some circles to re-define the condition as a disorder in its own right: the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5(th) edition (DSM-5), lists ‘attenuated psychosis syndrome’ (APS) in the appendix as a condition for further study. Individuals with PRS are certainly at higher risk of developing a psychotic disorder than those without PRS, but the majority of those with PRS do not subsequently develop a psychotic disorder, so we argue against the inclusion of PRS or APS as a subtype of schizophrenia spectrum disorder.