If the patient is showing continuing improvement, continue the medication at the same dose for at least 8 weeks, and beyond 8 weeks until the patient no longer is still gradually improving. Note that many patients (even first onset patients) are slow responders and may require many months to achieve full remission of all positive and negative symptoms.¹ However, if there has been no additional improvement for 4 to 8 weeks, the patient may be considered to have plateaued: if the level of improvement is still unsatisfactory, go back and answer "yes" to the previous question and follow the subsequent recommendations for treatment.
Recommendation #121
