The social context of psychosis

How our research benefits to society

Psychosis is a severe and often recurring mental health problem, causing a lot of suffering and problems in social functioning. We only partly understand the interplay of biological, psychological and social factors in the onset and course of psychotic disorders.

By investigating the social context in detail at multiple levels (social interactions, family, neighborhood, socioeconomic groups, ethnic groups, cultures and countries), we aim to find new clues for better treatments.

• With Virtual Reality, we investigate how people with psychosis interact in social environments, based on which we develop and test novel VR treatments.
• Our epidemiological research in different social contexts around the world explores associations between social contextual factors and incidence, expression and outcome of psychosis.
• We conduct transcultural research of psychosis in ethnic minority groups and in low and middle income countries to enrich and contextualize knowledge of psychosis, and to improve treatment for vulnerable groups.