Mentalization and Psychosis: A Rationale for the Use of Mentalization Theory to Understand and Treat Non-affective Psychotic Disorder

Abstract

Social functioning can be severely impaired in non-affective psychotic disorder (NAPD). Current models of psychosis pathogenesis do not tend to focus on social dysfunction and pharmacological treatment fails to ameliorate it. In this article, we propose that mentalization theory provides a valuable contribution to the understanding and treatment of NAPD. Impaired mentalizing may contribute to both positive and negatives symptoms as well as social dysfunction observed in NAPD. Furthermore, impaired mentalizing may help explain the relation between childhood abuse, insecure attachment and psychosis. Mentalization based treatment may contribute to the functional recovery of NAPD patients as it targets the social cognitive processes underlying social interaction. The article includes a description of the principles of MBT in general, specific characteristics of using MBT with patients with NAPD and a clinical vignette to illustrate these principles.