Insight in Psychiatry

Questions concerning the nature of insight in patients with mental illness have interested clini-
cians for a long time. To what extent can patients understand disorders which affect their men-
tal function? Does insight carry a prognostic value? Is impaired insight determined by the illness
or are other factors important? Despite considerable research examining insight in patients with
psychoses, non-psychotic disorders and chronic organic brain syndromes, results are inconclu-
sive and insight remains a source of some mystification.
IVANA S. MARKOVÁ examines the problems involved in studying insight in patients with men-
tal illness in order to provide a clearer understanding of the factors that determine its clinical
manifestation. She puts forward a new model to illustrate the relationship between different
components of insight in theoretical and clinical terms, and points to directions for future
research