The identification of early warning signs and the development of a relapse prevention plan is an important part of the treatment of schizophrenia. The use of a card-sort exercise is an effective way of developing an accurate description of the early warning signs. This paper describes our method of applying this technique to our patients. It also describes how the use of early warning signs in an early intervention service does enable some relapses to be treated at home before they become so serious as to lead to hospital admission.
Keywords: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, relapse prevention, early intervention service, early warning signs