ABSTRACT
Eighteen untreated patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, all of whom had insomnia among their chief complaints, were randomly divided into two groups. For four weeks, nine patients (group A) were treated with neuroleptics (haloperidol) and Orengedokuto, and the remainder (group B) were treated with neuroleptics alone. Changes in schizophrenic symptoms and the number of doses of hypnotics (nitrazepam) were examined. In group A, the thought disturbance (conceptual disorganization, grandiosity, hallucinatory behavior, unusual thought content) aspect of schizophrenic symptoms improved (p=0.06), and the number of doses of hypnotics (mean=1.9) was smaller (p=0.06), as compared with group B (mean=7.7). These observations suggest that augmentation therapy with Orengedoku-to is potentially effective for the treatment of insomnia associated with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.