Finding a solution to psychosis: the emergence of a new path

The transition from a dichotomous diagnostic classification system to the more holistic approach to understanding mental disorders engendered by the so-called biopsychosocial model has definite advantages, but it runs the risk of sacrificing methodological rigor to achieve all-inclusiveness. The Special Article by Bebbington on understanding psychosis in this issue attempts to show that high-quality psychosocial epidemiological research on the development of psychosis can, at least partially, overcome these limitations. Bebbington’s emphasis on the importance of non-psychotic symptoms such as disturbance in sleep and mood in the development of psychosis provides a new perspective on the conceptualization of psychosis, but I remain unconvinced about the usefulness of such symptoms in the differentiation of valid sub-categories of schizophrenia or other psychoses.