COGNITIVE THERAPY AND SCHIZOPHRENIA - REPLY

These interesting articles on cognitive deficits and rehabilitation in schizophrenic patients stimulate many questions, two of which are discussed in this reply. First, it seems likely that skepticism regarding the utilization and efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation strategies is born of despair that these treatments will ever be funded and delivered. This unfortunate state of affairs can only be corrected by effective social and political lobbying for adequate funding for mental health care. Second, the traditional tension between allocation and stage models of attention/information-processing deficits in schizophrenic patients may now be resolved by emerging theories that creatively integrate elements of stage and allocation theories. As we test these integrated theories, old "distinctions" seem to disappear and a clearer picture of information-processing dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients is emerging.