How should physical exercise be used in schizophrenia treatment?

Psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia affect 2–4% of the population and are one of the world’s leading causes of disability The cost of these illnesses to the UK economy is about £11.8bn per year, resulting from direct health-care costs, lost productivity due to unemployment, and informal costs to family and carers. Tragically, schizophrenia usually begins between the ages of 15 and 24 years, meaning that the many years are lived with the illness. The main features of schizophrenia are positive symptoms (such as delusions and hallucinations), negative symptoms (such as poor motivation and reduced energy), and cognitive difficulties (e.g. poor memory and attention). Positive symptoms usually improve with antipsychotic medication. However, in about 30% of cases, these symptoms persist, resulting in distress and difficulties in living. Moreover, the features that cause most disability are the negative and cognitive symptoms, and these are not responsive to antipsychotics.