RESUMEN
Introduction: Basic self-disorders on the one hand and motor symptoms on the other hand are discussed as endophenotypes of schizophrenia psychopathology. However, the systematic interaction between motor symptoms and the self-experience of patients is rarely studied. Methods: In a previous study we defined motor markers of schizophrenia via a data-driven analysis of patients' gait patterns. In this study, we related the movement markers to measures of basic self-disorder obtained with EASE interviews. We substantiated the correlations with a qualitative content analysis of the interviews of a subset of four patients. We related qualitative and quantitative data on an intra- and interpersonal level. Results: Our results suggest an association between the previously defined, theory-independent movement markers and basic self-disorders, specifically in the domain of cognition, self-experience and bodily experiences. While movement marker manifestation was not precisely reflected in the individuals' descriptions of anomalous self- and body experience, we found clear trends of more and more intense descriptions with increasing movement marker scores, when looking at specific experiences, such as hyper reflexivity. Discussion: These results foster an integrated view of the patient and could stimulate therapeutic approaches aiming at an improvement of self- and body-experience of patients with schizophrenia.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: Negative symptoms of patients with Schizophrenia are resistant to medical treatment or conventional group therapy. Understanding schizophrenia as a form of disembodiment of the self, a number of scientists have argued that the approach of embodiment and associated embodied therapies, such as Dance and Movement Therapy (DMT) or Body Psychotherapy (BPT), may be more suitable to explain the psychopathology underlying the mental illness and to address its symptoms. Hence the present randomized controlled trial (DRKS00009828, http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/) aimed to examine the effectiveness of manualized movement therapy (BPT/DMT) on the negative symptoms of patients with schizophrenia. METHOD: A total of 68 out-patients with a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder were randomly allocated to either the treatment (n = 44, 20 sessions of BPT/DMT) or the control condition [n = 24, treatment as usual (TAU)]. Changes in negative symptom scores on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS) scores as covariates in order to control for side effects of antipsychotic medication. RESULTS: After 20 sessions of treatment (BPT/DMT or TAU), patients receiving movement therapy had significantly lower negative symptom scores (SANS total score, blunted affect, attention). Effect sizes were moderate and mean symptom reduction in the treatment group was 20.65%. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that embodied therapies, such as BPT/DMT, are highly effective in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. RESULTS strongly suggest that BPT/DMT should be embedded in the daily clinical routine.