The initial relapse rates were twice as high in the dose reduction/discontinuation group as in the maintenance-therapy group. But the curves then approached each other and came on par at about three years of follow-up. From then on, the relapse rates did not differ significantly between the two groups.
Moreover, by the seven-year follow-up interview, the dose reduction/discontinuation group had experienced significantly more functional improvement than the maintenance group had. And also by the seven-year interview, 40 percent of the dose reduction/discontinuation group had recovered from their illness, whereas only 18 percent of the maintenance group had—a significant difference.
So if after remission is achieved, an antipsychotic dose reduction/discontinuation does promote recovery, how might it do so? One possibility, Wunderink and his colleagues suggested, is that antipsychotics not only counter psychosis, but also compromise important mental activities such as alertness, curiosity, drive, and executive function. Another possibility, they said, is that being in the antipsychotic-reduction/discontinuation group motivated subjects to actively participate in their own recovery.