Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Dec 22, 2015; 5(4): 352-361
Published online Dec 22, 2015. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i4.352
Conceptualization and treatment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia
Sonali Sarkar, Kiley Hillner, Dawn I Velligan
Sonali Sarkar, Kiley Hillner, Dawn I Velligan, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, United States
Author contributions: Sarkar S, Hillner K, and Velligan DI conceived the issues which formed the content of the manuscript and wrote the manuscript.
Supported by The Patient-Centered Outcomes Institute (2012- 2015).
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dawn I Velligan has received fees for serving as consultant and/or advisory board member for Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, Abbvie, Forum Pharmaceuticals, Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals and as a speaker for Otsuka Pharmaceuticals and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Sonali Sarkar and Kiley Hillner have no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dawn I Velligan, PhD, Department of Psychiatry University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Mail Stop 7797, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, San Antonio, TX 78229, United States. velligand@uthscsa.edu
Telephone: +1-210-5675508 Fax: +1-210-5671291
Received: May 26, 2015
Peer-review started: May 28, 2015
First decision: June 18, 2015
Revised: July 7, 2015
Accepted: October 12, 2015
Article in press: October 13, 2015
Published online: December 22, 2015
Core Tip

Core tip: Negative symptoms of schizophrenia including social withdrawal, diminished affective response, lack of interest, poor social drive, and decreased sense of purpose or goal directed activity predict poor functional outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. Negative symptoms and the resulting loss in productivity are responsible for much of the world-wide personal and economic burden of schizophrenia. We describe current theories of negative symptom development and maintenance and address the data regarding current and emerging treatments. Negative symptoms represent an unmet therapeutic need for large numbers of patients. Academia, clinicians, the pharmaceutical industry, research funders, payers and regulators will need to work together to pursue novel treatments to address this public health issue.